Hundred to one: introduction
by raspberry.kiss87
Summary: Karin couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Sasuke was there, yes, seemingly even more gorgeous, if that was possible, but they had yet to see his face. Why? Because he had it buried in the pink haired girl’s neck. SasuSaku.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Hundred to one: introduction**  
Main Pairing:** Sasuke + Sakura.  
**Side pairings:** - none said for now.  
**Rate:** Mature  
**Theme:** - from the next chapter on.  
**Tags:** College – Ooc – Art! – Foreign - Ocs  
**Prompts:** _Mama-goose-Mikoto, Fangirls, Sasuke's sacrifices in name of love (For Sakura), Obito's childish and trickster self equipped with his gas-guzzler, and a nuzzle.  
_**Summary:** Karin couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sasuke was there, yes, seemingly even more gorgeous, if that was possible, but they had yet to see his face. Why? Because he had it buried in the pink haired girl's neck. **SasuSaku**_**.**_

**Disclaimer:** Kishimoto-baka owns.

**A/N:** Where did the idea for this story came from? I don't really know myself. All I do know is that I had it in mind after a nonsense conversation with some friends, so I blame this on too much time spent with them. It wasn't meant to be a complex or substantial one, actually is pretty much based on a nonsense plot from the beginning, but from the way my ideas for it are going, it's going to be pretty deep from one point on. This Fic was more for me to come back to my writing, since it's been a while and because I'm at a kind of messy state of spirit at the moment, so I was going to use this one as an exercise, so I could concentrate on my other better elaborated ideas later on. But I happened to get rather attached to it, so I will take it more serious than I planned to. If this one comes out good, then it's a sweet score!

* * *

**+ Hundred to one: introduction**

**.......**

_A raven haired man sat with his back reclined on the comfortable royal blue chair while looking almost dully at the movie that was playing on the little screen in front of him, supported by the end of the armrest by his side._

"_Excuse me, Sir?" a brunette flight attendant said with a shy blush from his left side, motioning for the strawberry frappe and a cup of peanuts on her cart. "Would you like for me to bring it later?" she whispered in her meek voice, glancing at his companion._

_He turned to his side to find the pink haired girl sleeping, lying comfortably on her side on her bed-seat, clutching the light blue blanket up to her chin and holding his right hand to her chest under the flannel with the other. Glancing back at the older woman again, "Leave the peanuts and I'll ask for the frappe later again" he whispered even softer._

_She nodded and left the cup with peanuts on the table at the end of the junction of both seats' armrests._

_He turned again to look at the peacefully sleeping girl beside him, taking in her angelic features. After staring at her with soft onyx eyes he bent down, leaning forward, and kissed her temple, brushing a few strands of her soft pastel pink hair with his free hand before leaning back on his seat and returning the minimum of his attention back to the movie._

_Really, convince him to watch Hairspray, and not to change to another movie even if the interested and insistent party surrendered to sleep so he could tell her about it later, was something only his girlfriend could attain._

_And sleep she did._

* * *

**Manhattan, NYC, USA.**

_Summer, 22nd July._

03:05 pm

An elderly woman with very light gray, almost white, hair that reached her shoulders and was pulled in two pig tails by her sides paced in front of a zebra wooded door. She was wearing a salmon shirt, beige Capri that reached passes her knees, a blue apron tied around her chubby waist and her usual light brown beret on her head. The apron would have been removed before she left the kitchen, if she wasn't in haste to prevent her mistress from being late.

She raised a hand to fix her black rounded glasses, an agitated habit; her worried dark brown eyes didn't turn from the door for too long. In middle of her frenzied dilemma, she missed the sound of footsteps on the designed wooden floor, causing her to jump with a strangled gasp in her weary raspy voice when two arms encircled around her from behind in an embrace.

"Wow, Sanshou-baa, calm down, it's me!" she recognized the male voice instantly and relaxed, turning after being released from the hold to find a man with short spiky raven hair in his late thirties grinning boyishly at her.

"Obito-chan! I'm too old to take this scares!" she chided, but didn't lose her warm tone for the man.

"Well, you were lurking here without destination for the two minutes I've waited to be noticed…" he said with a shrug, ending with a mild pout for being ignored.

This brought the old woman's attention back to the door. She had been pacing that hall area for the last ten minutes, thinking if she should interrupt her mistress, who had entered the room to make an important call, or not… It was almost time for the woman's appointment and she wasn't even sure if she was ready.

"Is Mikoto inside?" Obito asked, interrupting her thoughts, while pointing at the wooden door.

She turned her head to look at him and nodded, with a worried look in her tiny eyes, hoping that he would be of attendance. "Y-yes, Obito-chan. She said she had to make this very important call and I didn't know if I should interru-" she stopped when the man simply opened the door that had been challenging her for ten whole minutes and walked in, leaving her there, baffled at his simple movement but then proceeded to stumbled in, focused on pulling him out.

The room had walls made of Fruitwood, an antique Persian Sarouk Farahan lying on the shiny wooden floor. At the bottom of the room, in front of the window doors that opened to the balcony, was an ancient mahogany wooden desk with handmade aligned designs around the border. On one side wall stood a tall and large mahogany book shelves covering an entire side of a wall. Across from the desk were three comfortable looking back chairs with thick boxed seat and back cushion, scaled down wings, flared arms and exposed tapered front legs. On the corner of the room, to the side of the door were two love seats, a couch and a coffee table at the center. Against the side wall stood a mahogany chest with some exquisite souvenirs decorating the top.

Sitting behind the desk, was the figure of Mikoto Uchiha, outlined by the light coming from the windows. She was wearing a black pencil skirt, cream blouse and black leather pumps.

Once and still a praised topmodel, was now a very respected and famous fashion stylist, owner of a high scale model agency called _Elite_ and editor-chief from the popular and esteemed chain of fashion magazines: _Runway_ and_ Beautiqe. _

"Damien, we have it booked already! Tell Lisa that! Marika should be arriving there soon, but fix this!" she yelled at the phone.

Although it wasn't something new to him, Obito had a grim expression due to the woman's yells as he walked forward and sat in one of the black velvet chesterfield armchairs situated in front of the table, fixing the stressed woman with a pointed look while tapping his wristwatch.

"_Obito-chan! We should wait outside! Mikoto-chan is very busy at the-" _Sanshou half whispered half hissed from behind the rug, attempting to pull him by the arm.

He snorted "You always spoil her so much… If it was me, you would have entered without any hesitation"

"_Obito-chan, this is not the time!" _

"So tell Carmen that she needs to make another appointment next week! I can't be there anytime they like! And tell Isaac that I will see to the substitution and will return the call when I find a suitable one." She stood up, motioning for Obito to stand, and started to fix her purse on the table with one hand, holding the phone to her ear with her other one. "Yes. Tell Joicy that she has to eat, have Kimberly to see her." She said, holding her purse by the handle and making her way to the door, followed by Obito and Sanshou. "Damien, I have to go now. I call you later to know how it went, bye." She said, ending the call and making her way down the long hallway before going down the dark wooden stairs "Sorry, Obito. Do you think we will be late to get him?" she asked without turning to the man that was following her down the steps, behind the older woman.

"No, its fine. We might be just a little, but we never know how late the flight can be…" he answered with a shrug when the three of them entered the main living room.

They headed to the front door, only to stop at the sight of two girls waiting in the entrance hall. One had short brown hair and brown eyes, the other had long red hair past her mid-waist and red eyes, behind black brimmed glasses. The first was wearing a ruffled blue blouse with a V-neck; mini denim skirt that reached her mid-tight and white heels, the last one wore a female dark blue suit, micro black skirt and black heels.

"Matsuri and Karin? _What a surprise_." Obito said dryly, not even blinking at the girls. The girls didn't need to have repeated they would go with them every time their families met.

"We are here as agreed!" Karin, the red head, announced.

Obito leaned closer to Mikoto, _"I have no memory of that" _he whispered.

"YOU-"

"Karin, don't scream in my house." Mikoto chided, for the _nth_ time. The girl looked away with a frown.

Matsuri, the brunette, opened her mouth to speak instead of her friend then, "So –"

"And you both are _late_!" Karin complained, glaring at Obito.

Matsuri seeing the older man about to snap at the red head girl, decided to change their attention to the matter. "Aren't we going?"

"_We _are" Obito emphasized, pointing at himself and the raven haired woman, giving the brunette a flat look.

"Please, take us! We have to go! We have to see him!", Matsuri squealed pleadingly, being chorused by Karin. Both weren't able to think about anything else, but the events of the day.

Mikoto sighed, not surprise either. She knew that the two girls would just keep insisting and delaying her even more. "Ok, let's go then…" she answered, just as the dark haired man was about to have his fun with the girls' plead and ignored his look as she headed out of the apartment's door. She didn't care, as long as they moved.

"Mikoto-chan! Tell Sasu-chan that I'll do his favorites!" Sanshou pleaded her with a warm smile at the woman, who smiled back while heading to the elevator after the others as the black eyed man held the door opened for her.

"Of course, Sanshou-baa. He will be here soon!" Mikoto answered cheerily, before entering the vertical transport.

**.:*:.**

"Why don't you ask for the employees to bring the car here?" asked Karin, who was applying and retouching her make-up while looking at the small portable mirror in her hand, glancing in front of her so she could follow them down the enormous garage, after Obito's car.

"Oh, Karin, a little walk is always good for those who can walk; and for many other reasons too, of course. After all, my experience with women tells me that calories and cellulites are never worries out of circulation for most of them and-"

"What are you insinuating?!" she screeched.

He snorted, glancing at Mikoto who was hiding her snickers behind her hand, "That we walk to my car." He simply said. Normally he loved to tease those girls, but the knowledge that they would be in the car for the entire ride, considering the normal distance plus the traffic, took all the fun away. Although there were things that sometimes just slipped out. "You putting make-up is pointless, Karin." He said looking over his shoulder and meeting her glare, knowing the other girl had a frown on her face in defense of her friend – even if he was sure she just wanted to laugh – and he also could feel his in-law's wary, all expecting some insult coming from him. He almost rolled his onyx eyes at the reactions. "We will be a while in the car; it can get hot since we never know what the weather will be like in a few minutes in this city. There's traffic on the way." He said, turning his head to look forward, fastening his pace as they got near to his black and white 1987 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.

"You can turn the air conditioner on" she retorted.

"There's no such a thing in my car" he coolly answered, able to picture their shock by the gasps from the two.

He approached the car, sticking the keys in and turning it to unlock the doors before opening the driver's door. He opened the back door beside him to make space through the little mess his sons have left there. He placed the football ball on the floor, followed by the sticker albums and RPG stuff. He was aware of Mikoto entering the passenger's seat when he heard a loud gasp and a pitch screech, followed by "Please, tell me this is a low joke". He sighed, straightening himself out of the car to find the two girls frozen on their place, while looking with a shock that was soon to be dismay at him and at the car, which in his opinion, didn't deserve such mistreatment.

"Is thi-this… your car, Obito?" Matsuri uneasily asked. They knew not to expect the newest vehicle on the market, even less a personal fabricated one. They were accepting to put up with such terms all in benefit to see their dreamy Sasuke-kun.

"Proudly" he said, giving them a wry grin before turning to step in the driver's seat. "It's more than fine if you want to stay." He called out, inwardly cheering for them to run away from the "outrageous" model of transportation, but groaned in disappointment when he heard the two back doors open, much to Mikoto's half amusement and half annoyance, due to her wish to be gone already. "Aha, I see that you two are being big girls and decided to befriend the car like adults do" he said in a mocking tone, as if they were less than five years old._ Or just plain normal people, for that matter_, he left unsaid. The answer for his words came in form of glares and shrieks, giving him all the evidence he needed to activate his ignoring mode while he proceeded to start the car and make his way out of the garage unperturbed.

"Sasuke will surely have a surprise…" he said, making a turn to drive down the street. Mikoto nodded while looking through the rear-view mirror at the last minute additions. "I'm just not so sure if will be a good one…" he drawled with a chuckle, seeing the woman beside him shakes her head with a giggle.

* * *

**John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) **

04:40 pm

Obito released a deep sigh when he finally reached the parking lot from the gigantic airport; having endured with the three women's complaining havoc for the entire route. Firstly being about his precious classic model of car, which isn't surprising since it was always a reason for complain from the female team of the family. His daughter was the only one that stuck with him, since his wife, Rin, had already thrown hints of dissatisfaction at him, seeming much disesteemed over the matter in question, sounding like it was just a matter of time for her to start her round to pester him to _"get rid of it"._

To complete the situation, it had started to rain few minutes after they left the house. This was normal for this time of the year in New York City. It was contrasted by sunny and heating days to pouring rain, leaving one easily open for flu's viruses. At the moment, it wasn't raining as hard as it could but the force of the wind wasn't any relief.

The moment he parked the car, the three jumped out, still nagging. He would never fancy having men as company instead of women, no matter how much he enjoyed hanging out with his own gender. He simply didn't have any deficit in connecting with the opposite one, being actually very comfortable while doing so, and liking it. But he didn't like it now. It wasn't hard to understand him though, considering he was in company of a nervous-rack-super-mother-goose-mode Mikoto, both in their way to pick her youngest – and most motherly pampered – son, Sasuke, who have been living abroad for 3 years. _Just his luck._ But that wasn't all, those two irritating preppy girls, Matsuri Ito and Karin Iguchi, daughters of friends of the family, would have been left behind if he could have helped. Sasuke would have been no impeachment on the matter – he was _sure_, most likely the opposite. His his sister-in-law, however, would, no matter how much she agreed with him, because he _knew_ she did.

They were already on the designated floor, having taken the elevator, and were now passing by the many gates from different airlines. Some scarcely occupated, others were bustling with people, making it hard for them to pass through, having to dodge the cheerful embraces and apologizing – awkwardly - when stumbling over a sweetly entwined couple.

All the way the two girls have been just squealing and fixing themselves, making Obito groan when even with all the noise, distance and the soundly presence of unfamiliar languages, his ears managed to catch some things.

"_Are you going to do it, Karin?"_

"_Of course, I won our deal!"_

"_Yeah, but only if he stills wants you after your first date. If he doesn't, then he is mine!" _

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, what's-wha-WHATS THE NAME OF-" Mikoto started her series of squeaks, yelps and other high-pitching sounds stumbling nervously through the way, whirling around and yelling at an annoyed looking Obito, who interrupted her.

"British Airlines, Mikoto" was his coolly response.

"Oh!"

"_Did you hear? Bri_tish_!"_

"_Ah, do you think Sasuke-kun have added some of Bri_tish_ to him?"_

_- Pause -_

"_OH MY GOSH!" they chorused with a squeal._

After passing by a few more gates, they finally reached the British Airlines that wasn't very crowded since the arrival was timed to 04:07 pm, but there was still people coming out and some mingling around with their acquaintances while others waited to be picked up.

"Well, maybe he hasn't even come out yet" Obito said, while shooting the three females pointed looks.

"Let's just look for him" Mikoto said, ignoring her brother-in-law's comment, while searching for her son.

The two girls, that were still squealing, were walking in circles around the range, looking for their crush while gossiping with each other.

"HEY!" Karin yelled impolitely at a man that was dressed in a Jewish outfit who had accidently hit her shoulder while passing by her. He stumbled forward while whispering an excuse to the hysterical girl.

The two girls' vision of the place then was interrupted by the mass of Jew excursion. Karin saw a flash of pink through the gaps in-between the flow, on the other side of the large crowd. Thinking it was some fashion number, it attracted her attention, making her try to get another glimpse from it through the little intervals of people. Just when the crowd got finally scarcer, she found the pink easily, only to be abruptly frozen on her spot by the sight. Matsuri looked at her friend, that didn't move a step even when all the Jew pack had cleared out. "I've found him" she eeped, seemingly from lack of air.

Matsuri squealed and turned to scream to the others, not noticing the reason for her friend's utter shock. "He is here!"

Obito and Mikoto made their way to them, the latter smiling excitedly. "Where? Where is he?" she urged, looking frantically around.

Karin gulped, "With Pink…" she answered stiffly.

"What?" Mikoto asked, confused, frowning at the girl, and turning to Obito only to find him staring at something with a big grin forming on his face. She then turned, also noting the shock on the brunette's face, to the direction they were looking – scratch – gawking at. It took a few instants, but she did found him, and her surprise wasn't missed.

Karin couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sasuke was there, yes, seemingly even more gorgeous, if that was possible, but they had yet to see his face. Why? Because he had it buried on the _pink_ haired girl's neck, her hair covering it a little. Basically you could see the shock of his unmistakable spiky raven hair at the back of his head, and some of the pale skin from his cheek and neck, which was arched accordingly to accommodate the position.

**.......**

* * *

_**Afternotes:**_

Other than the flight attendant, the names mentioned by Mikoto while on the phone and the tourist excursion, there are no Ocs' in this chapter. Sanshou is a character from Naruto's filler episodes.

**X**

I hope no one felt offended by the _"Jew pack" _term, because that's all that is. Originated from "group" – of what? – "Jew" and changed to fit better and don't sound so stiff in the context, not wanting to be repetitive with "Jew excursion". I can't see anything offensive about it, but since religion and such are sometimes sensitive subject for some people, I'm already leaving it said and clear that's not the intention and I have nothing against Jew, being friends with a few myself.

On a curious note, I was actually going to write a Japanese excursion because theirs are usually the largest in number, also because they don't seem to separate much from one another, but I didn't because of the story, since I don't know where the Japan is going to stand in the story, and I was going for something new.

**X**

I'm going to be practical like dad taught me:

If you liked it, is giving it a thought and wish the story to continue - review. This is my first real published story and I've been hesitant as hell to let it out, so some motivation would help on that.

If it didnt pleased you, nor gave you any curiosity for it to continue - well, heh. shit. right?

But if you are in-between and want to leave some contructive words - it's also welcomed!


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Hundred to one: introduction**  
Main Pairing: **Sasuke + Sakura.  
**Side pairings:** - none said for now.  
**Rate:** Mature  
**Theme:** - from the next chapter on.  
**Tags: **College – Ooc – Art! – Foreign - Ocs  
**Prompts:** _Mama-goose-Mikoto, Fangirls, Sasuke's sacrifices in name of love (For Sakura), Obito's inquires and taunts, meeting in-laws, barks.  
_**Summary: **Karin couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sasuke was there, yes, seemingly even more gorgeous, if that was possible, but they had yet to see his face. Why? Because he had it buried in the pink haired girl's neck. **SasuSaku**_**.**_

**Disclaimer: **Kishimoto-baka owns.

_Reuploaded for corrections._

* * *

**+ Hundred to one: introduction**

Karin couldn't move from her spot, feeling frozen on her feet while she gapped at the scene ahead of her, "What the hell is that…" she whispered, her red eyes narrowed at the pink haired girl, who was no stranger to her, in a way.

**.:*****:.**

Mikoto stared at the sight, her surprise almost melting into cooing. The two were sitting at one of the Coffee Shop's tables that were situated at the stretch's corner, giving entrance to an aggregation lounge of bars and coffeehouses. They were both sitting side by side, facing the gate's direction, certainly to be able to spot them when they arrived. This would have worked, if Sasuke hadn't been so distracted by the warm action, leaving then the task for his partner to fullfil, when she didn't know who to wait for.

She sensed Obito shifting next to her and spared him a glance only to see him walking forward, towards the cuddling couple's table, motivating her to follow him. As the distance decreased, Mikoto could see the pink haired girl more clearly and could say she was very pretty.

She _froze _for a moment, her steps slowing down, as she tried to accelerate the recognition process in her brain. How couldn't she have had this realization at first sight, she didn't know. She turned her focus away from the oblivious couple, to glance around them, seeing more than hearing the whispers from many of the passers-by directed at the pair or, the ones that had recognized her or Obito, extended their unabashed identification on their accounts as well.

Thankful that she had her fashionable polarized sunglasses on and hoping that her reunion with her son and her meeting with his well known partner wouldn't be memorized by anything other than the bystanders and passers-by's minds' eyes – even though her excitement wasn't allowing her to care too much if that wasn't the case, she returned her gaze to them, focusing on the girl now a few steps in front of her. She had a black trilby hat on her head and was wearing a light sun dress; her legs clad in blue thin tights were crossed, while her hands were holding some magazine. She had an amused expression on her face as she traded words with the raven haired man beside her, her bright orbs focused on the paper's contents, looking like she was commenting on something she had read. The chair beside her was occupied by a big dark handbag that was almost all covered by a big leather jacket. On the floor there were two bags, two hiking backpacks and a hard guitar case next to their feet.

Although Mikoto was softened by the scene, she just wasn't sure how to lead things from there. If only her son would lean away from the pink haired girl's warmth to reveal his face, so he could see his surroundings, it would make all the easier and reduce the possibility of embarrassment or awkwardness, not forgetting the eyes of the beholders.

.

.

.

Apparently Obito had _no_ _trouble_ with that.

**.:*****:.**

"If you want him to take you shopping, what does _he _do?

A. He takes you and stays with you inside the stores, commenting on each of your choices and choosing some himself for you to try on.

B. He takes you there and waits at the coffee shop until you are done.

C. He gives you the car keys, telling you he is busy and for you to call a friend to go with instead."

She asked, reading the question in the colorful magazine out loud for her partner that had just sat back on his seat beside hers after having stood up to buy a tall cup of the Misto coffee and bring to their table for both of them to share, being successful in dismissing annoying waitresses once again. He was dear like that, to her, at least.

"I might give you a ride there" he answered before sucking the green straw in the tall cup.

"Or your car keys…" she steered.

He released the straw and shook his head a little in a thoughtful refusal way, "No. I wouldn't give you my car keys."

She raised her gaze from the magazine to look at him, "Why not?" she asked, almost flatly. "I've drove your car many times already."

He glanced pointedly at her and motioned to the magazine with a curt nod of his head, "There implies if I'd _willingly _give or lend you the keys, not have them stolen."

She opened her mouth a little to lick the tip of her upper canine, raising both eyebrows a bit. "Shame they weren't considerate enough to add your dilemma as one of the options" she said lightly, words dripping with sarcasm.

He casually shrugged his shoulders a bit while glancing around before looking back at her, "It might be due to short number of occurrences"

She gives a nod, frowning a little in mocking reflection, "I'm sure."

"Well, my answer wasn't anything to be complained about. I'd be taking you and your girl friend there. I _romanticized_ letter "C", actually" he defended.

"What if it was a _boy _friend?" she asked lightly.

He stayed quiet for some instants before giving a light nod, his lips tugging one side a little, "Ah, _those_. What about them?"

"He might not be gay."

He raised a black eyebrow at that, "The one that'd take you shopping on his own free will?" he checked.

She nodded and shrugged slightly, "Yes, Suiga goes"

He snorted, "Please. There are girls everywhere you look there. _Of course_ he goes."

She nodded again with a contemplative expression, "Yeah,_ too_ _many _guys seem to share this thought, huh."

He sighed, "Meet me at the Starbucks" he murmured.

She leaned to him, sucking on the straw poking out of the cup in his grasp, taking in the warm drink while gazing at him with grinning green eyes before giving him a wink and leaning back on her seat, "Fast thinking."

With a smile on her lips she slashed the correct answer, which she knew all along: **A**.

"If the dinner you've spent hours making for him doesn't taste good, what does _he _do?

A. He eats it as if it was his favorite dish and repeats his fill for a good measure to take away your doubts.

B. He eats a regular portion quietly after thanking you, refusing to eat more with some well thought excuse.

C. He doesn't eat it after the first taste and complains on what's wrong with it."

She asked, leaning to him to catch the straw back in her mouth.

"I'd politely say that we should eat out because I haven't taken you on a date in so long" he answered evenly, putting his free arm around her shoulders, his elbow supported by the back of her seat.

She turned to him, mouth gapped, "That would be mean!" she protested, restraining her smile.

He shook his head coolly in disagreement, "No, that would be a date, which can't be_ mean. Mean_ would be if I called some Chinese Take Out, or any Take Out, for that matter" he said, raising the cup to suck on the straw.

She sucked the inside of her lower lip, setting it in a broody line, "That would be going head straight down the hill; you aren't that stupid even though you get close to it sometimes" she said, almost _too_ smoothly, lightly snorting to herself as she turned to look around the area without much curiosity.

He turned to look at her, lips set in an almost sulky line, "That's what I get for wanting to take you on a date on a_ weekday!_" he retorted dryly.

"When _my_ food is already served on the table, with a napkin folded for you, then yes, that's what you get" she answered back, without turning; her emerald eyes still wandering around their surroundings, ignoring the stares and whispers.

He shrugged, not able to argue with that.

She looked down at the magazine, not finding an option that fitted to what she knew was the right answer. Letter "A" was the closest, but not exactly how things would probably happen. She was certain that if she had put her best efforts and intentions in making him a dinner, and it turned out tasting bad, he would eat it because of her feelings, and if it really meant a lot to her, and had caused her to be very upset, he would be a letter "A".

**A**, even though she could hear his taunts already.

He leaned to her, lowering his face to nuzzle her neck, burying it with a light groan, _"We should have sat inside"_ he said.

She giggled, "Sure, when your relatives couldn't find you, they'd certainly think that inside the Starbucks is their next best try, because if you aren't anywhere in the sight range, you ought to be in there!" she said, knowing her partner's annoyance towards the watchers, especially after he was attacked by that insanely giggling reporter from a teen magazine when they came out of the gates. She held the magazine with one hand, as the other one lowered to his crossed leg to caress the inner side of his calf that was hoisted by his knee.

He sighed _"I know my way to the apartment, Sak"_ he said, his voice muffled as he brushed his lips on her neck, inhaling her sweet scent.

"Now, _Suke_, that's not very dear" she chided mockingly, her tone teasing him merrily even if she was unable to hold back the shivers.

He grumbled.

Minutes passed and he hadn't moved from his position, seemingly - _as always_ - very comfortable with his face buried in her neck, nuzzling the spot with the blade of his nose.

"Shouldn't you be looking around for them?" she asked softly with a small smile on her lips, turning the page she was done reading.

"_Nah, I'm much better here, _like this_"_ he said, kissing her skin. _"Besides, my uncle will find me some way or another."_

"How do you know?" she whispered, enjoying his attention.

_"My mom will surely be with him, so he will have to if he wants to keep his sanity… The little he has"_ he said calmly.

She chuckled, about to return her attention back to her absent reading, when she found that the black haired man, which, she had noted with little interest, had been staring at them for a short while, was now walking to them with a large grin on his face. The behavior was nothing she wasn't used to, but most of the time it wouldn't go beyond stares, whispers, reactions that kept a distance. Although approaches weren't rare, the way this man was closing in on them, his lack of hesitance, awkwardness or embarrassment, coupled with his long strides, narrowed eyes and wide grin, made her tense a little in anticipation.

Her lover opened his eyes as he felt the slight tension of her shoulders, noticing her hands were kneading the edges of the magazine, which she didnt seem to be reading anymore. He frowned when he saw a shadow nearing them, now hearing the loud footsteps and was about to raise his head, but proceeded to bury his face even deeper in his lover's skin with an annoyed groan as soon as he heard the familiar voice.

**.:*****:.**

"Hello lovely and beautiful lady!" Obito eagerly greeted. The girl's bright eyes that had been glancing at them as they approached showed now apparent confusion and slight amusement as they focused on Obito. "But the unmistakable chicken butt hair was an absolute give away for me to easily recognize my dearest nephew here!" the man announced, gleefully.

This made Mikoto almost laugh at her in-law's nervy but adorable conduct. The girl's green eyes widened as one of her pink brow's raised a little and she was shaking only slightly, with a small unsure smile on her lips, looking like initiating giggles were soon to come out. Hearing her son's grunt made the raven haired woman smile at the familiar sound.

"May you please tilt your head a little to the side, since it doesn't look like he will do so anytime soon?" Obito asked with a boyish grin, while standing in front of the couple. Mikoto was a few steps behind him, while the other two girls were still frozen, moving slowly forward from their prior spot.

Mikoto rolled her onyx eyes at the man's boldness, while looking at the girl, who had blushed a little. The slight confusion and uncertainty in her eyes probably due to Obito's flashing speech. What was that dickhead thinking? Acting like that with the _only_ girl she had seen her son act like this to! She hoped the girl wouldn't mind it too much; neither gets embarrassed by his ways. Her train of thoughts halted when she heard a dulcet laugh, making her turn her eyes to the girl again who was laughing with a blush adorning her cheeks. She had turned in time to see her son finally leaning away from the girl's shoulder, straightening back on his seat, and revealing his face to her after not seeing him for a year and half. She took off her shades to have a better look at him.

In almost two years of time of not seeing him, she could notice some little changes. They were very little, aside from the growth of his hair, but evident to her mother-expert eyes.

He was wearing a charcoal heavy-weight, visibly weary and a little destroyed looking hoodie with two front pouch pockets and a thick lining; slim fit dark blue jeans and some also weary black Adidas sneakers that had tanned leather straps at the sides.

Sasuke looked annoyed at his uncle but his lips tugged up a little at the side in mirth at the old man's teasing actions, ones he was more than used to.

He snorted, "Important to note that you are the late one, uncle."

"Well! I see that the last thing you can complain about is boredom!" Obito said, widening his boyish grin while wiggling his brows suggestively.

Without falter, Sasuke answered coolly "I said _no_ complains", his lips tugging in a smirk.

If Obito was waiting for any embarrassment, a gasp, stutter or any speck of blush, he would be disappointed. _If _he was, that is, since he very well wasn't. His family had wrecked enough of his attempts for him not to get the message. That didn't mean he quitted it anyway. Perhaps the girl could have had some of these reactions, but apparently not. She was still diverted from his performance, sporting a light dusty blush on her pale cheeks. At least, he thought, he didn't know what to expect from this one, and this could only be a good thing for starters.

Turning to glance at the amused girl by his side that still let out a few quiet giggles, Sasuke sighed and, as if hesitantly, stood up, raising his arms a little to stretch his limbs and back, his smirk widened at the almost annoyed expression forming on his uncle's face. Seeing the form of his mother behind the man, made him brush their quirks aside as he made his way to her in a few strides, having her hugging him the instant he was in front of her. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her there for a minute.

"Sasuke-chan! My son!" she wailed in joy, although the shaking pitch wasn't slight.

"Ma, don't _wail…_" he grunted.

"I'm **not** wailing! I'm expressing my feelings!" she stressed.

"You are _wailing _them" he disagreed, stressing his word flatly.

"He is right, sis" Obito pointed from behind him, receiving a glare from the woman over her youngest son's shoulder.

Sasuke let go of her, as she huffed but didn't stop smiling. Obito then got him in a fierce hug. "OH! My nephew!" he mockingly wailed in an exaggerated exclamation while shutting his eyes tightly.

Mikoto looked dryly at him, but smiled again when it elicited giggles from the new comer, which remained on her seat, not wanting to rush any of the greetings. Her onyx eyes narrowing in better recognition now that she was close enough to the girl.

After _finally _releasing himself out of his uncle's grasp, Sasuke looked at the pink haired girl, not oblivious to his mother's reaction. She took the sign, uncrossing her long legs and standing up from her seat.

Sasuke raised his hand to pat the hat on top of her head as a casual affectionate gesture, keeping his eyes on her, "This is Sa-"

"Oh, _finally_ the part _I _was waiting for!" Obito cheered with a wide grin, clapping his hands in excitement.

Sasuke rolled his onyx eyes. "And he doesn't see me for three years." He commented dryly to the girl who giggled, looking from him to the older man.

"But I was all about meeting you, dear nephew. I actually couldn't wait for it! Well, this was before I came upon whom you had as company. Then I realized that I can very well wait for it so you can make _un_hurried introductions." He exclaimed while nodding.

Sasuke looked dryly at him for a few instants, and then turned again to the girl. "One more time" he stressed, glancing pointedly at his uncle, who nodded enthusiastically. "This is Sakura, my girlfriend" he said, placing his hand on the back of her neck, under her hair, in a very lose grip, described as a caress.

Obito glanced at his sister-in-law, who seemed a little surprised, and gave her a few instants to act before him. When she didn't, he shrugged, almost _bouncing_to the girl "Now this is a-" his plan, however, was interrupted in his mid step when Mikoto butted in front of him, sandwiched between him and the girl who raised her brows with an unsure but amused smile.

"A surprise" the raven haired woman said with a stern and analytical expression in her features, making the girl blink at her. "A welcomed one" she added, her expression breaking in a warm smile, which seemed to confuse the new comer a little, and proceeding to hug her. She felt the girl go stiff for a second, not feeling the arms retributing the action by wrapping around her, and thought it was a little odd since she seemed so cool and comfortable with Obito, but shrugged it off before pulling away, a smile still on her lips, "I'm Mikoto, Sasuke's mother. The goofy behind me is Obito, Sasuke's uncle-"

"Awww! I was going to introduce myself!" said man whined on the background, muttering _"You spoiled it!" _with a grouchy pout aimed at the raven haired woman, making Sakura tilt her head to the side a little to look at him over the older woman's shoulder, eyebrows creased in wonder, her eyes blinking once with a small smile on her lips.

"-and my brother-_in-law_" she stressed.

"She got the point, Mikoto" he said flatly from behind her.

"Just to clarify I don't have _any _blood association with you as for myself" she shrugged with a wry smile at him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes sighing, while Sakura laughed turning their attention back to her. "Yeah, I get it. Well, is sweet to meet y'all!" she said with a grin, talking for the first time and so exposing her mildly strong English accent. It wasn't strong enough to be hardly understood, but it was unmissable and unmistakable. She gave a very instant nod, certainly not for etiquette measures, more likely for body communication, at her last word.

"Uh! Bri_tish_, Sasuke!" Obito taunted his nephew, said guy not aware why he said the words so clearly loud. The older man made sure that the two girls - who had yet to make an appearance - heard it. He could only imagine the shock they were going through, remembering all their blabbering in the car about their _plans_, _excited plans_.

Oh, oh.

He couldn't help it.

As Obito teased her youngest son on the background, Mikoto gave the girl a quick once-over, while her green eyes were entertained by their taunting.

She wasn't the only one, as fuming red and brown eyes were fixed on the newcomer as well.

It wouldnt be a surprise for her, but Mikoto didn't even remember that Karin and Matsuri were in the same area as them.

The first thing to note was the girl's rich, sleek carnation hair that reached some inches past her shoulders. She had a heart shaped face, creamy white skin, bottom nose, plump light pink lips and just the most beautiful eyes. They were unmistakably green, clear emerald green, and, although she seemed friendly and sweet, her eyes were a little icy, as they looked at you halfway opened. Superiority was the feeling that transmitted.

Of course, the first accessory that caught her attention was the black trilby hat placed coolly on top of the girl's head. She was wearing a light zip front halter neck sundress that reached the mid of her tights with squiggle orange red stripes prints, a tie back around the waist and a racer back behind. Her long legs were clothed in thin blue tights - something she highly commended her for, the whole outfit, which she wore without any stiffness or awkwardness, being able to pull off the eccentric but great match graciously. On her feet, she had simple black flat leather sandals with ankle buckle.

The pink haired girl, one she knew well about, although never in person, was truly gorgeous. Even in a random day, wearing casual clothes - although in her own singular style - after a seven or eight hours flight, she was the attractive spot at the expanse. Well, of course her son just made it doubled.

She came back from her thoughts when she noticed the two other girls had joined them causing her to get a little worried about Sakura's reaction to the two. Karin and Matsuri, who had made their way to them gapping at the new arrival, were now glaring at her. Mikoto noted that Sakura didn't seem to notice since she was talking with Obito, but she knew that Sasuke did, as he was now looking a little warily at the duo.

Karin and Matsuri screeched loudly before bumping each other on their way to jump him first. Sasuke had an expression that was half blank and half pained as the two bounced him, squealing loudly.

This, of course, caught the pink haired girl's attention and made her turn her head to look at them. Mikoto sighed knowing that a _catfight_ was the possible outcome and that she would have to play the peace maker, since she _couldn't _and _wouldn't _trust the task to Obito, _knowing _him.

However, she was very surprised when _that's all she did_! Sakura simply looked for what was going on, saw her boyfriend being _glomped _by two squealing girls that were strangers to her, and turned her head to Obito again, not halting their conversation while doing so. Mikoto had to smile and giggle - which earned her questionable looks from both - at the foreign development.

"Sasuke-kun, you are finally here!" Matsuri squealed, hugging one of his arms.

"I cant believe it! I missed you so much!" Karin squealed, while she hugged his other arm.

"Me too!" the brunette butted in, letting go of his arm when she noticed him pulling away.

Karin, however, didn't. "You should move back to LA!" she said, with utmost certain, like it was her decision to make.

Matsuri nodded, "It takes too much time for us to see you again!" she complained.

"We've been waiting the whole month!"

"Ah, it must have been _nail-bitting_" he said airily, pushing the red head away.

"It was! It took so long!" Karin said.

"It could have taken long_er_" he countered, while looking around the area, as if searching for someone.

"L-Longer?! N-no!" the brunette stammered, looking at him with alarmed eyes, not knowing what to understand from his words.

"Hn" he shrugged.

"How was the flight?" Matsuri asked.

"Too many girls throwing themselves at you?" Karin asked, puncturing her lips in irritation.

He sighed, "No, they all stayed on their own seats" he said coolly, with some mocking underlining that was too pronounced to be missed.

They, however, didn't take it as a suggestion to stop.

"Those girls are everywhere when it comes to Sasuke-kun" the red head said with disdain.

Sasuke looked flatly at her, blinking once, "They are. Unfortunately."

Karin then looked hotly at him, "So maybe you should find yourself a girlfriend to put them on their places." She suggested with a wink.

He shrugged, "Ah… Consider it done, then" He said.

His answer, however, came out ambiguous for those who were unaware of his meaning, leaving enough path for other conclusions, one of which exploded in the girls' head with glittery stars, well, in Karin's did.

While the brunette looked rather shocked and upset at them, Karin blushed and looked coyly at him. "Oh, Sasuke-kun… I didn't know you would act so _fast_. This is such a surprise…" she trailed off, seeing him blink at her with a raised eyebrow, "but you are lucky it's been a long time since I've been preparing myself for this day, so I can't say I am unprepared." She said, returning to gripping his arm.

"What are you going on about, Karin?" he drawled.

"Do you want to go to my house to spend some time?" she asked lowly, not noticing the weird look he was giving her.

Matsuri frowned at her friend and decided to call for her memory on their plans, "Hey! We have decided that we would take him to the new club at the mall, remember?"

Sasuke shook his head a little with a sigh, finally getting away from the girl's grip… _again_. "Yeah, it was nice of you two to come…" he said. _Not that it is surprising in the least_, he thought. "But I'm going home from here. Get things settled and get us established, so-"

"_Us_?" Karin screeched lowly, looking at him dumbly, as she and the brunette stiffened. Her overwhelmed senses were tempted to ask if by _"Us"_, he meant he and her, but she decided to keep her mouth, this time, wisely shut, since she wasn't dense. She had a guess who he meant by that, and it wasn't her.

Sasuke blinked at both and then realized he needed to make introductions again, so he nodded and turned a little to the direction where his uncle was chatting animatedly with his girl. "Sak!" he called, luring his mother and the other's attention to the pet name. The pink haired girl walked slowly to him, still in her conversation with the older man, while Sasuke took a few steps to her, snaking an arm around her shoulders when she was by his side and turning to look at the frozen girls. "This is Sakura, my girlfriend. Sak, these are Matsuri and Karin." He ended there, not really sure how to proceed.

"They are friends of the family" his mother explained with a smile for the pink haired girl, who nodded and coolly smiled at the girls that now gaping widely at them.

"Hi there" she greeted with an airy wave, looking mildly amused as the brunette blushed.

Mikoto stepped in, feeling the two, or Karin alone, were about to loudly react as they came out of their instant shock. "So, are you guys all set?"

"Yeah, kids, is this all?" Obito asked, motioning to the bags on the floor.

Sakura nodded, stepping a little away from her boyfriend, raising a hand to lightly scratch the back of her head under the brim of the hat, "Yeah, this is all we brought, but…" she trailed off, pausing for a second before opening her mouth to continue, but her boyfriend continued it for her.

"A friend of ours that came along with us walked off to check some things and will be back." Sasuke finished.

Sakura nodded, raising her other arm, resting her entwined fingers the top of her hat, in an aloof stance.

"Oh, ok. So we wait a little bit?" Mikoto said while looking around and noticing many passers-by gasping, gapping and gossiping while looking at their direction with gleam of recognition and curiosity in their eyes. It wasn't a shock, that they would call this much attention, especially with Sakura along. Turning to look at the young couple, she saw them assorting their things, her lips stretched in a warm smile, releasing a few quiet giggles at the scene.

Sasuke was looking for something while Sakura was lightly complaining, he crouched to search in one of the bags' extern pockets, then stood up with a little frown on his face, proceeding to dug his hands in his dark blue jeans' pockets, fishing out a paper of whatever it was they've been looking for. He showed it to her with a smirk on his face, pressing her hat further down with the palm of his hand, blinding her a little. She squealed cutely and raised her hand to swat his away, making him chuckle.

When all was set, they walked closer to the others, to wait for their friend.

"Were there many people on board?" Mikoto asked, noting as the other girls kept quiet although the expressions on their faces weren't pleasing. They seemed still shocked with the surprising company that her son had brought along.

"Not sure, the first class wasn't full." Sasuke replied with a shrug.

"I guess it had, since there was some fussing on the back with the attendants." Sakura commented absently.

"And was the flight good?" Mikoto asked, hooking her arm through her son's.

Sasuke just nodded with a shrug.

"Yeah, although Sasuke kind of spoiled it a little…" Sakura said with a grumble.

The two adults blinked at this and turned to look at Sasuke, who rolled his eyes and shook his head a little, while glancing at both, as if saying "Don't mind that".

"Why, swee-"

Mikoto was cut off when she heard barks near them, turning to see a little Jack Russell puppy fighting his restraint, while pushing his way overexcitedly towards them, tugging on the thin blue leash. Along with him, there were also three Cockers. One that was few steps behind the Jack Russel, also bouncing against his yellow leash, at the other side of the owner's legs, another was tugging a little on the dark green leash, while walking coolly beside the person's legs was the fourth, this one was bigger than the others, on a red leash. Following the cords she found a relaxed looking man, seemingly undisturbed by the canines' havoc, calmly walking to them. He had very dark brown hair tied in a spiky ponytail, almost on the top of his head that looked like the outline of a pineapple, small lazy brown eyes that and light tanned skin. He was wearing an ecru colored long sleeved sweater, blue jeans and weary black converses.

When the man was only a few meters away, Sakura jogged to him, crouching down to pet the excited dogs that enclosed on her.

"Sasuke, uhm…" Mikoto started, blinking at the scene and watching as Obito slowly made his way to the last arrival. "You didn't tell me quite a few things…"

**……. **

* * *

_**Afternotes:**_

I've actually cut three pages (in web layout mode, which are five in print layout mode), out of this chapter. They will be added in the next chapter, so no worries, for those who did. I just thought the chapter was getting too long, although, I myself, love long, long, long chapters concerning any kind of reading that interests me, which might be a reason why I'm so keen on writing them. But I know that it can be tiring for some folks, and I didn't want that. Even so, the chapter the way it is now, after editing it, isnt what you call by short. Right?

**X**

I was planning on writing a cold Mikoto, but I've failed on that. Even so, I will try to repair that on the next chapters. Sasuke is her youngest son, and as you can see on the canon story, he appears to be what is called a "mama's boy", in my opinion. As it's said here, she doesn't see him for quite a while on account of him living abroad. But even so, I will leave cold!Mikoto to the other version of this story I have in mind, if this one goes well. Either way, she isn't going to be this cheery all the time. This chapter concerns her private life, and considering who had just arrived, she will be warmer than I intended. Someone asked on how she was going to react to Sakura, and as you can see, it went pretty well.

**X**

The way I'm writing this story is quite descriptive and slow, I know. Is just the way I chose to lead it and I think is good to picture it. Not saying other ways aren't though. God I love reading! This is just a new one. So tell me what you think on it… I'm not saying I plan on changing if there are complains, but it's good to know from the readers. I wanted to pass a casual feeling, like, it's a story but the situations are very day-to-day like, with those especial moments everyone goes through, ones more, others less, but they reach everyone, right? I wrote part of this while I was killing sometime in the airport, well, I didn't wrote the story there, just a few notes and the rest pretty much made itself in my head, but observing was a great tool for it. I planned on erasing a big part of this chapter, but it was already written before I even post the first one, so this one has carved in my mind. In consideration to the story and fear of getting lost in my writing if I did delete part of it, I chose not to. I hope it entertains you enough to keep it up till the end of this long chapter (not that long anymore). Well, if you guys wish for the scenes to be shorter, you tell me.

**X**

I don't know if you guys have noticed the differences between the parts where is only Sakura and Sasuke, to the one where they are joined by the others. Especially from Mikoto's first impression, you can visualize how she looks. On the other hand, with Sasuke, he sees her in another light. Of course, considering he is her !_darling _boyfriend, it's expected for her to be very warm (or warmer) to him. But it also has to do with how _he _sees her. By cold eyes, I didn't meant she was cold as a person. Folks with bright colored (especially light shades) orbs have a cold look at first, even if is matched with a smile, while others with darker shades or colors (like black, brown, hazel, dark blue and dark green) have warmer looks. Yeah, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto achieve the inversion of that. Well, I'm not saying that you can judge if someone is friendlier than the other by the color or shade of their orbs. _Please_, that's an utterly ridiculous thought. Mikoto was making her first analysis on her youngest son's girlfriend that she had just met, having only heard a small sentence coming from the girl's lips. That was her first impression, and note she refers to her eyes as cold, not to Sakura. But yeah, this trait will be touched again through the story. I just thought about leaving these words here. My words, not Mikoto's! =)

**X**

Ok, guys. Let's make one thing very clear here: I hate Karin.  
At first I was going to make her and Matsuri almost some sorts of brainless fangirls. Well, it's not that much from my imagination, since in the anime (especially) and manga she is very pathetic, Karin I mean. But I decided to do something different in this fic and I'm thankful that the first chapter gives me coverage for that. I just decided to make them fangirls with brains, in little words.

Writing Karin was a major pain in the ass.

Just a few things I wish for you guys to have in mind. I changed my plans concerning Karin and Matsuri's reaction (that first was to go all frenzy and scream 'who is this bitch?!' haha, nah, im kidding… but was close to that) because they are in their twenties in this story and I couldn't (for the life of me) actually fit this kind of behavior here. They weren't oblivious to his companion, although they had forgotten for a few minutes when they greeted (glomped) him. This was a very hard piece for me to do, the hardest from the whole chapter, and I plan to explain the reason soon.

In truth, I would be alright with Karin if she turns her interest (and dangerous obsession, as Kishimoto himself said) towards Suigetsu.

**X**

**Images:**

.mind the espaces.

**Sakura's dress:** http:// img5. imageshack .us /i/zipfrontdresssquigglepr .jpg/ (TopShop)

**Sasuke's hoodie:** http:// img195. imageshack .us/i/sasuhoodiegmsahoodiesur .jpg/ (Surplus and Adventure)

**X**

Uh. One more chapter is out.

I've been very hesitant in letting them out. But I didnt want to take very long to update and seeing as it was ready to go... So, yeah.

If you liked it, have a complain, a suggestion, a constructive critic: **review. They motivate me.**

The next chapter will take a little longer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Hundred to one: introduction**  
Main Pairing:** Sasuke + Sakura.  
**Side pairings:** - none said for now.  
**Rate:** Mature  
**Theme: **meeting in-laws.  
**Tags:** College — Ooc — Art! — Foreign — Ocs — In-laws -  
**Prompts:** _Mama-goose-Mikoto, Fangirls, Sasuke's sacrifices in name of love (For Sakura), Obito's nerve, foursome canines.  
_**Summary:** Karin couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sasuke was there, yes, seemingly even more gorgeous, if that was possible, but they had yet to see his face. Why? Because he had it buried in the pink haired girl's neck. **SasuSaku**_**.**_

**Disclaimer:** Kishimoto-baka owns.

.

_**Reupload reason:** I've edited the link for the pictures! Sorry! Now it works!_

* * *

**+ Hundred to one: introduction**

"Ma, you never had trouble with me bringing friends over, when I lived at the house" he said.

"No, and I don't. I'm talking about the dogs…"

"You knew I had a dog" he answered flatly.

"Yes, but —" _not four_, she would have added if she wasn't interrupted by him before she could continue.

"We usually go on trips when we have days off and sometimes we bring our dogs along" he told her with a shrug.

Mikoto didn't say a word about it anymore, letting go of the subject as she looked at her son with a wondering gaze, _"Our", Sasuke? _

The brunette man gave Sakura the leash that was holding the Jack Russell. His fur coat was white with some tan spots, his two ears and right side of his head, a tan coat started from dropped ear down, around his right eye, leaving no white speck till a little above his muzzle, leaving the left side of his head coated in a continuous white —the distinctive trait of his appearance. He got even more hyper when Sasuke walked to them and crouched to give him some attention. The little dog seemed ecstatic to be reunited with his owners again. Then they moved to walk back to their things with their friend following, still holding the other three leashes.

"Hey guys, this is our friend, Shikamaru," Sakura introduced, then turning to do the inverse, "Shika, this is Mikoto, Sasuke's —"

"Mother," he concluded making Sakura blink lazily at him. "It's a dead close resemblance" he said with a shrug, his words —also carrying an English accent, elicited a smile from Sakura as she nodded and a warm one from Mikoto.

"True. So this is Obito, his…?" Sakura trailed off, looking at him as she waited for some guess.

"Not his father, not his brother; although they are alike, their features don't match enough as a heritage between siblings, but that could only be counted as half siblings since he couldn't be her son… Can be his cousin, but the age difference pattern would be large enough to make it more possible for him to be his uncle" he deduced. Mikoto, Obito and the two girls looked at them in bewildered curiosity, or just plain bewilderment, in the girls' case. Although they were involving them four, as it seemed, the talk was between the foreign dual.

Sakura sighed as if disappointed, raising an arm to pat her hat, as her gaze wandered around, having her lips tugged a little down, in an almost pout, while Shikamaru sported a cool smirk in his.

Sasuke approached them and poked Sakura's forehead, reminding Mikoto of a too familiar gesture between her sons, "_We shall not flag or fail._ Stick with Churchill, like the good English girl you are" he said, making her grin. He leaned down, intending on kissing her, but she turned her head a little, causing him kiss her cheek and pull away with an inaudible sigh. He turned to his friend, "So, we go?" he asked absently, resting his hand on her hip.

The four outsiders watched their interaction, not comprehending much but also feeling like they weren't supposed to.

"No, I'm not done with the introductions!" Sakura said, pushing her boyfriend —who grumbled a little, to the side so she could look at the other people and continue, "So, Shika. These two girls are?"

Shikamaru looked boringly at both who were shifting and twitching in discomfort at their attention. "Not his sisters for sure, there are no similarities at all. These leaves the cousins' possibility too unlikely. Aunts…" he trailed off, as if thinking it over, even thought he knew the answer. "Ah, their glares answered that one. I could say friends, but… By the way they are carrying themselves, the second intentions are evident" he said without qualms. "Well, not much luck for the brunette; because I don't think that's his type…" he said, giving his girl friend a pointed look, along with an instant glance at her hair, while ignoring the brunette girl's offended gasp and appalled features. "So I'd say that they are what we call second options for if Sasuke gets bored of pink, he just trade shades and… I can see she is rather willing-" he stopped when Sakura jabbed him —_hard_— with her elbow, without even turning to look at him.

"They are Matsuri and Karin, friends of the family" she _corrected_.

Sasuke shook his head at the two, knowing the lazy bum was joking from the start, wanting to irk his girlfriend, "You practically begged for it, blood" the raven haired said with a smirk as his friend made his way closer to him with a grim face, giving him the leashes, while Sakura walked to their things at the table.

Shikamaru chuckled and shrugged.

"Shikamaru, right?" Mikoto asked, approaching them.

"Yes, Mam," he nodded.

She smiled, "Please, call me Mikoto" she said, shaking hands with him.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called from her spot next to the Coffee's table, the little puppy of Jack Russell standing on it, nuzzling into her every time she came close enough, while she went on setting their things.

He walked up to her, weakly pulling the three dogs with him, who were very willing to follow, "Yeah?"

"Shika told me the vet said they are fine, but will be a little sleepy throughout the day"

"Fine" he said.

"We're going, then?" she asked, rolling the magazine in her hands before placing the cylinder inside her handbag.

"Yeah, we are. Are you taking that?" he asked nodding to the magazine they had been diverting themselves while reading as they waited for their escorts. He raised his free hand to let the agitated puppy on the table play with his fingers, trying to catch and bite them with his little sharp teeth, but Sasuke would pull back before he got too excited.

She nodded, "Yeah, there are some _ace_ comics in it" she answered absently.

"Yeah?" he whispered.

"Yeah, like Andy Capp, Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, Pearls before swine…"

"Hn" he grunted, nodding.

She then closed her bag and walked to the bar's counter with the bill in her hand.

Sasuke let go of the leashes, seeing as the three Cockers have calmed down and wouldn't wander too far from him or Sakura, and walked to the chair, picking up the leather jacket dropped on its seat.

"So, are you guys ready?" Mikoto asked, approaching him with Obito and Shikamaru, who picked up one of the hiking backpacks that she presumed to be his.

Sasuke nodded, hitching a big black mountain hiking backpack by the strap, slinging an arm through it and then the other, hoisting it on his back. It didn't reach higher than his head.

"Oh, dear! Isn't this heavy?" Mikoto asked worriedly, although she was used to her sons carrying this type of luggage.

Sasuke shook his head.

"Where is Sakura?" she asked, looking around for the younger girl.

"She is paying" Sasuke simply answered.

Mikoto blinked, looking at the direction of the coffee shop's counter, seeing the rosette there talking to the cashier.

"Oh" _that's _definitely_ new._

Sakura walked back to them, the two smaller Cocker puppies that were on the floor following her, wiggling their tails, while the bigger one was sitting quiet.

"Sakura, dear, do you have a coat?" Mikoto asked.

"Yeah, kids, it was very sunny and hot in the morning till an hour ago started to rain. It wasn't raining very hard but was winding a lot though." Obito informed.

Sakura looked at the chair that was beside the one she had been sitting "Yeah, I do—"

Sasuke cut her off, by holding it out the black leather jacket, "Here"

Sakura took it and put it on; the oversized leather jacket, that looked old and weary, reached a palm and half above the hem of her dress. The elastic at the bottom was gathered a little tight to her body, while the jacket was loose. Picking up the big leather handbag that was on the chair seat, she slid it over her shoulder, holding her bigger white one by the handle straps, and then bending to get the guitar case's handle.

"Oh, sweetie, let me help you" Mikoto said, hurrying to her side.

"Nah, its fine—"

"No, no, let me take something from you" Mikoto insisted.

"Mmm…" Sakura hummed unsure, before holding out the hard case for the older woman who took it from her.

Sakura passed by the table where the still hyper dog was, and picked him up with her free arm after having put down her white bag and pushed the extendable aluminum handle out so she could wheel it. Adjusting him in a better position, she made her way to the others.

Sasuke had the hiking backpack on his back and was holding a black wheeled duffel bag by the handle straps instead of wheeling it on the floor, since the airport seemed to have gotten very crowded and it also felt better this way, due to the weight on his back.

"Sasuke, let me take that" Obito said, walking to him.

"No need, uncle," Really, although it was heavy and considering he was tired, it wasn't any of a big deal to the raven haired youth.

"I have my hands free here, boy. Give me this bag," Obito insisted, already having offered his help to Shikamaru, who said it was fine, and he didn't insist since it was just one bag. "Come on, give me that, Uchiha"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at him but handed the duffle bag, which Obito took, "So now you can tend to your dogs"

Sasuke said nothing as he turned to walk towards the bigger one, seeing Sakura with one in her arms; he bent down unclasping the leash cord from the collar and straightened himself up again after petting the dog's head.

He turned his head to the side when he noticed Sakura standing by his side from the corner of his eyes, both stared at each other for some seconds before he lowered his head to the side of her face, grazing her temple with the tip of his nose and kissing her ear, earning a little soft giggle from her due to the tingly feeling and a lick on his neck from the puppy she was carrying that was happy with his proximity, making him grunt with a chuckle as he pulled away from her. She giggled while she petted the yappy dog.

Sasuke sighed, raising a hand to brush his long fingers through his raven strands. "So…" he trailed off, looking around a little.

"Suke, I think Ruby shouldn't be put down either. It's too crowded and she can get lost or hurt…" she said, looking at the bigger dog that stood calmly by Sasuke's side, already used to be freed from the leash.

Sasuke looked down at said dog, which looked back up at him, "Yeah, you are right."

"You both ready then?" Shikamaru drawled out dragging his feet to them.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, we are picking Ruby up too."

The brown eyed boy nodded with a glance at their surroundings, before bending down and picking one of the other puppies up, whistling to the other one whom, as usual, thought of it as a game —annoying the lazy bum. She wasn't the only one who had that impression; also as usual, the Jack Russell in Sakura's arms started to bark, trying to wriggle his way to the floor.

"_Shh_, Trigger!" Sakura chided, turning her back to Shikamaru, but the yappy dog had none of it and climbed his upper body over her shoulder, "Shika, just get her!"

"And she will be sweetly still on her spot till I get there, right?" he drawled sarcastically with a huff. It was always like that.

Sasuke watched them, shoving the cord into his jeans' pocket before bending down and picking Ruby up.

Mikoto walked to them, seeing Shikamaru attempting to capture the red chocolate and white furred puppy that seemed to be having a good time in running from him while barking. She giggled, "Shikamaru, give me this one so you can catch the rebel one better?" she offered.

He nodded and gave her the puppy that was quiet, but had his eyes attentive to the action. Mikoto petted his soft fur while she also watched the amusing scene.

Shikamaru put down his backpack and took few steps towards the little furry dog, angling his strides wider as he closed the distance, only for the dog to scurry away, wiggling her tail excitedly and barking in a high pitch tune. Of course one would think that since she still had the leash clasped on her collar, this would be too easy. It would if he didn't know that, since she thought of this as a game, she could —and most likely _would_— go running without direction, mingling with the crowd and risking getting hurt or lost. _Great_. When he came at her again, she only moved when he was near, running to the other side, close to the flood of hurried feet, but halted her steps with a yelp when large feet dressed in sneakers stepped on her way, giving Shikamaru enough time to step down on the leash cord and catch her. He picked her up, not minding her whining, and nodded to Obito, who had interrupted her merriment. "Thanks, man" he said, hoisting his bag on his back again. _"Troublesome"_ he grunted with a sigh, following as everyone started to make their way through the flock of people. He walked to Mikoto, motioning for her to give him the puppy she was holding but stopped when she shook her head with a giggle.

"Oh! It is ok, Shikamaru. He is already settled."

He smirked and nodded.

As Sakura made her way to follow, she felt a hand holding her forearm, turning to see Sasuke with Ruby hoisted on his other arm as he took her hand off her white bag's handle, lowering it down so he could pick it up off the ground by the two straps. Sakura rolled her eyes a little and complained, saying she could take it but he had none of it, continuing his way after the others. She let out a sigh and walked up to him, stopping by his side to raise his hood over his head, causing him roll his eyes then and tilt his head away but not enough to stop her.

So they made their way through the large expanse to the automatic glassy doors, heading to the parking lot. Obito was heading upfront carrying Sasuke's black duffel bag; behind him Shikamaru was carrying his dark green hiking backpack, having pulled his sweater's hem over the puppy, trying to shelter her from the rain. Sakura, now relieved from her white bag by her insistent boyfriend, was hugging the puppy that was inside her jacket, with his head picking out a little, since he wanted to see all that was around him and bark to whatever or whoever he felt like it, even with her arm covering his head a little, it was enough for him to see. Few steps behind Sakura, was Sasuke, with his black hiking backpack hoisted on his back, one arm bent around Ruby's belly, in a way that would be comfortable for the dog, as his other hand was holding Sakura's bag by the handles. She had gotten the light blue blanket —one of the blankets they had stolen from the plane out of her bag to wrap it around Ruby. Beside him was Mikoto, carrying the other puppy the same way as Sakura while she held the guitar's case by the handle. Matsuri and Karin were following them, complaining about the rain on their clothes and hair.

**.:*****:.**

When they arrived at the parking lot's entrance, the older raven haired man groaned upon thinking how it was going to be inside his car again. If Karin and Matsuri would keep pestering him about his choice of vehicle or if they would be drooling over Sasuke, then he would pray in his mind for Sakura to shoo them away —using her fists if needed. Really, it came to _this_ level. No matter what his sister-in-law would say, he would _totally_ stick with the pink haired girl if this was the outcome. He was brought from his bitter thoughts when he heard a grumble from behind him, looking over his shoulder to see the pineapple haired boy, Shikamaru, frowning at the puppy on his arms, but still covering her with the hem of his sweater and his arm over her head.

WOAH.

HOLD ON.

Obito's black eyes widened in realization and a boyish grin widened in his lips.

Shikamaru was adjusting the annoying puppy on his arms, who had just bit him as a way to play and let him know how bored she was —_big deal_, Shikamaru thought, having had to learn how to live through boredom himself, so would she—, when he heard a loud whistling and raised his head to see Obito, almost happily jumping from step to step, while he _skillfully_ whistled "_I feel good!" _as he made his way to the car, causing him to raise a brow at the strange man.

When they were few feet from the vehicle, no more in the rain since the area was covered, Obito turned to face the others, "Well, we are going to make a few changes here since we had some additions," _Blessed additions. _"Karin and Matsuri, you will have to go by yourselves since there's no space for both of you inside."

"Oh my! Its true!" Mikoto gasped. "I had forgotten"

"Yeah-" the older man was about to answer, when the two _blessed _additions seemingly decided on not being so "heavenly sent" anymore.

"Hey, man, I can get a taxi or something…" the brunette trailed off, shaking his head a little, as if to show it wasn't a big deal for him.

"Yeah, we either can go by taxi or train" the rosette offered.

Karin and Matsuri, who had been frozen on their spot, about to protest against the outcome, seemed now contented. That was until Mikoto, surely a little mortified at the offer of their _foreign guests_, turned to the British girl, shaking her head, "No, no, it's not necessary, please-"

Sakura shook her head coolly, showing no trouble about it, "It's very fine" she told the older woman, with a smile.

"_Tche"_ her boyfriend muttered, annoyed. "You are coming along" he said with no worry over his tone, since it was meant to be a statement, although his dear girlfriend _loved _to go against those.

But, before she could, it was Shikamaru who insisted, "Doesn't the airport have a bus or something—"

Obito threw an arm over the English brunette's shoulder "Of course it does! But you are our guest, Sasuke's friend and have never been in New York City, or have you?"

"Well, I came once—"

"Pff, once isn't _by far_ enough for someone to learn how to walk around this city!"

"No, it's cool, man. I'm sure I can—"

"Shikamaru, you are coming with us. Karin and Matsuri can get transportation" Sasuke stated, nodding for his uncle to open the car, ignoring the girly whines. Obito walked to the driver's door and stuck his key inside the hole, turning it, unlocking the car.

Sasuke opened the back door on the right side for Sakura and motioned for her to get in. As she walked to him; she raised her head a little to peck him on the cheek before stepping into the car, cradling the puppy in her arms.

"But Sasuke-kun! It's raining too much and we didn't bring an umbrella!" Karin wailed.

"You will hardly get wet" he countered callously, placing Ruby inside after Sakura moved to sit in the middle before straightening and walking towards them in lazy steps.

"We came here to pick you and that's how you thank us" Karin said with a dramatic expression.

Matsuri nodded with a fake pout at him.

He sighed, "Come on, quit it, Karin" he said tiredly before making his way back to the car. He knew those girls well and he really wasn't in the mood at the moment, "Make good use of the train."

"_Train?_" the red head hissed, as if it was a foul word.

"Mikoto-baa, these clothes are new!" Matsuri said, turning to the older woman who was looking dully at them, while pointing to their outfits. "_We bought them for today!_" she grumbled so Sasuke couldn't hear.

"What a better way to debut them then?" he drawled out uncaringly as he stepped in the car himself, after Sakura held Ruby to her side. He said nothing more before shutting the door, leaving both girls gapping at the door.

"So, come on, Shikamaru!" Obito called out for the lazy teen that had been standing there awkwardly. The brunette dragged his feet to the back door on the left side of the car.

"Hey! There's still space for one!" Karin squealed, frowning when she witnessed through the rear window as Sasuke ran his fingers through Sakura's hair after having taken her hat off and how the pink haired girl leaned her head on his shoulder in response. She _had _to be in that car!

Mikoto that had just entered the car, after saying a few words to the girls, sighed. The plan was for her and Obito to come pick Sasuke up, although the duo had insistently informed them of their wish to come along. Of course, with or without the two girls, they weren't expecting for Sasuke to bring not only two guests but also four dogs with him. She sighed as she thought of the new comer's suggestion of going on their own, using some kind of public transportation. No, Mikoto wouldn't allow.

Obito tapped Shikamaru's shoulder as he hesitated, "Get in, kid" he said before both opened the two doors and got in. Obito lowered his window to look at the girls who were arguing on who would go with them. "Now, I don't think that's a sign of true partnership there" he reprimanded mockingly, making Sakura snicker on her boyfriend's shoulder, while the two boys smirked and Mikoto shook her head with an amused smile in her lips. "I'm sure you two wouldn't want to abandon the other to return home alone from here in the _pouring rain_, right?" as the two opened their mouths to retort —because he knew they would— he turned the engine on. "That's dignified of you, girls!" he called out, raising a thumb up for them before returning his hand to turn the wheel and maneuver their way out of the parking lot, leaving Karin and Matsuri behind, blowing a fuse.

**.:*****:.**

"They must be so mad, Obito…" Mikoto said with a quiet giggle.

"Mad? They will have the opportunity to use the _AirTrain_! Who would be _mad_ because of that?" he asked in mocked absurd, making the car's occupants laugh.

"It's more probable for them to get a taxi, though…" Sasuke said, having his arm around Sakura's shoulder, while she leaned on him.

"Yeah, you are right, Sasuke. Well, I'll make sure to give them a second opportunity when we bring you guys to get your flight back. I'll even take them to the AirTrain myself!" Obito said with determination, diverting them. Through the rear-view, he could see Sakura was already pink on the cheeks from laughing, while Shikamaru was chuckling with a grin on his face.

"Obito! They've just arrived! Let's not talk about their departure!" Mikoto complained.

"Ok, ok… There's still time, though; a whole month!"

"How are the puppies doing back there? This one over here was so calm I thought he was going to sleep but now he doesn't want to stop looking out of the window!" Mikoto said, giggling as she watched said tricolored puppy trying to stay straight on his two short hind legs, while leaning his upper body by supporting his two forepaws on the armrest attached to the door, so he could see outside the window, not giving up regardless of the times he hit his little muzzle on the thick glass.

Sakura laughed, "Yeah, Biscuit loves to observe everything around him"

Mikoto giggled, "So his name is Biscuit?" she asked, while trying to hold the dog a little away from the window, which he refused to.

"Yeah"

"What about the others?" Obito asked while keeping his eyes on the road.

"The one with me is Trigger" she said, looking down at the now sleeping puppy on her lap, as she brushed his fur; then she looked to the bigger dark chocolate and tan furred dog that was occupying Sasuke's lap and part of one of her tights where she rested her head on, keen on being near both of them, while Sakura stroked behind her ear. "The bigger one is Ruby "Roomy" Tuesday" she said with a giggle, as Obito and Mikoto laughed. "Then there's the one that is with Shikamaru. That's Blue Hope" she said, ignoring the lazy bum's snort.

Obito laughed at the name "Blue Hope? That's very singular… What, each one of you picked a word and put it together?"

"No, uncle, we are not _that_ lame."

"Ho, Sasuke. I tell you that you have to do this many times in a marriage. I tell you that, my boy."

"Yeah, you are no example in that matter, if one isn't willing to take just how lame and corny you are in that point."

"But it works, my boy!" Obito cheered.

"It beats me just _how_" Sasuke wondered in mocking tone with a sigh.

"HEY!"

Mikoto giggled, "So, why is she called Blue Hope?"

Sakura remained silent for a while before turning to look at her boyfriend who was looking at her. She smiled at him, "It's an inside story, but I'll tell you one day, Mikoto" she answered, making the older woman smile.

Sasuke lowered his head to kiss her but she turned her head once again, making him roll his eyes and kissed her cheek instead, which was still fresh from the rain.

"Did you two buy the four of them or did a friend give them to you?" Mikoto asked

"Each of them has their own story" Sakura answered.

"Oh, I thought the two little Cockers were siblings"

"No, neither they are Ruby's relatives"

"So what are the stories?"

"Oh, its worth to tell another day, but all of them were brought by Sasuke."

"Yeah? Even Trigger?"

"Yeah, he was a gift from him"

"How sweet!" Mikoto cooed, making her son roll his eyes.

"Hmm…" Obito hummed, glancing at his nephew through the rear-view with a mischievous gleam in his black orbs before turning his attention back to the road, "In exchange for what sexual pleasures, if I may?" he asked, catching —_throwing_, in Mikoto's case— them off-guard, except for Sasuke, who had felt something was coming.

Shikamaru couldn't hold back a flow of snorts and snickers at his surprise.

Mikoto gasped, looking with wide abashed eyes at the insolent man. Sometimes —most of them, actually— she just couldn't —for the life of her— link him to his family by any way, any ligature at all —other than looks; especially not to his brothers.

Through the rear-view mirror he could see Sakura looking at him with her mouth opened in amusement and mild shock, as she sported a light blush on her cheeks. Shikamaru was snickering by her side, while Sasuke looked cool and collected with the question as he rolled his eyes, but amused nonetheless, his lips tugged in a smirk.

"Only the dirty ones, uncle" Sasuke answered coolly, eliciting a giggle from Sakura and a loud gasp from his mother.

"Oh, come on, Sasuke. Give me some details here! You are one of the Uchiha's smartest brothers; which you got from your uncle, might I add!" he tried boast.

"Yeah, maybe… Izuna is pretty something…" he drawled out, while looking outside as he still stroked Sakura's hair.

Mikoto giggled.

Obito huffed, tugging his face in a childish scowl, making Sakura realize that the familiar trait came from genetics, at least with the two Uchiha males in the car. "I'm sure Madara will be a very helpful alliance… _for once_" he grumbled, making Sasuke chuckle, Mikoto following. Although Sakura and Shikamaru didn't know the family's inner jokes, they caught enough to be diverted by it… If not, just by Obito's frolic itself.

After the laugh died down, he tried again, "So… Sakura, what was it?" he asked, looking at her through the rear-view and waggling his brows suggestively, causing said girl to shake her head with an amused grin.

"His mother is in the car!" Mikoto protested playfully, making the three on the rear laugh.

Obito snorted loudly, "Oh, Mikoto, _please_. If you dream of _Sasu-chan_ being a modest virgin, I will outright pivot these wheels to get you in treatment before we even head to the condo. First, just look at the kid. Second, he is an Uchiha, a twenty-years-old-out-of-home one, out of the country, to be exact. Third, there's no way in life that he would resist having a girl like Sakura" Obito he pointed out, making a point not to mention his nephew's past meetings with the opposite sex, knowing it wouldn't be a good idea.

"Obito, leave the kids!" she defended.

But he had none of it.

"Oh, come on… Sakura, pray tell?" he pleaded.

He looked at them through the rear-view again and was sure she was one of his by the smirk she had on her lips.

No, this girl was something _else_.

"Nothing I was unwilling to comply…" she drawled, while looking at Sasuke and grinning playfully at him, with a mischievous sparkle in her bright emerald eyes. Sasuke's smirk widened as he dipped his head to nuzzle and kiss her neck, covering her face with his head and shock of hair from Obito's view, making their brunette companion rolls his eyes and glue his attention outside the car, scooping himself closer to the door.

She was one of his favorite people in the family already, Obito concluded.

Because, _yes_, she _had_ to be in it.

**.......**

* * *

_**Afternotes:**_

So… it didn't take that long, right?

**X**

The game between Sakura and Shikamaru is one I used to have with a friend of mine when we were younger. At the time it was purely for fun, and anti-boredom, and sometimes to annoy someone, but now I see it as a great way to increase observing skills. I'm a huge observer, although I'm far from silent, most of the times. I don't know if their banter annoyed you guys, but after having written it, I just couldn't erase it. And really didn't want to. Their relationship, along his with Sasuke, will be brought up soon.

**X **

_ACE_: British slang for "great" (even though I believe most of you know this, I can't speak for all)

**X**

Sakura or some other characters might use words together that aren't commonly used, or phrase things differently. This will be intentional —many will. I, myself, and my pals tend to do this while speaking our mother language or the others we can speak. It's just something unfamiliar to your hearing. Someone called my attention for one of her sayings: "It's very fine". I know it's not used, I guess, and might sound weird if you actually focus on it while reading, but it's not _wrong. _"Very It's fine", "It's very finner", "Is very fine" (in this context), "Are very fine" or "Verry fine", those would be grammatically or orthographically wrong. "It's very fine", "It's pretty fine", may be just unfamiliar to you but I don't think it would sound wrong if someone told you that, while it might seem, at first, while reading. Well, those are just examples.

**X**

There was more SasuSaku in this chapter, right? At least for a bit. I know some of you are waiting for the real fiery or romantic moments between them, and I assure you they are to come. Soon.

**X**

About the many questions that I've been leaving unanswered, such as "Who are Sakura and Sasuke in this story? What do they do?" or "Why Sasuke is living abroad?" or any other you may have, I, most likely, am aware of them and will be exposing the answers for you in the further chapters. For now, I wish you all to take them as they are. You might ask me a question, if you have one, because I may have overlooked something —I'm only human. So, it would be helpful even if I answer you without answering them, but at least they will be noted.

**X**

Trigger, Ruby, Blue Hope and Biscuit's pictures can be found in my album for the third chapter here:

http: // www. flickr. com/ photos/ 41071680N03/

(mind the spaces)

I've made this account precisely for my stories, so you may find the ones I linked on the previous chapter there as well.

**X**

I propose a poll:

Long chapters x Regular/Medium chapters - which do you prefer?

You can tell me in your review or you can vote in the poll I've opened in my profile. This poll has to do with the fourth chapter, so it's not random.

The question is in form of a curiosity, because yeah, I'm curious to know, but it's also because I'm kind of new around and haven't read that many stories so I was wondering about that. I'm trying to give the next chapter a halt but it's been stubborn about it! Even so, dont worry, I will follow what I think it's for the best for the story. I might cut it or not. I just wondered what're you guys' opinions. :D

**X**

**Reviews motivate me, so if you liked or have any suggestion, you know what to do.**

I ask for you guys to tell me how my grammar is going.

Matane~


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **Hundred to one: introduction**  
Main Pairing:** Sasuke + Sakura.  
**Side pairings:** ― none said for now.  
**Rate:** Mature  
**Theme:** meeting in-laws.  
**Tags:** College ― Ooc ― Art! ― Foreign ― Ocs  
**Prompts:** _Obito's love crisis, Sasuke's sacrifices in name of love (For Sakura), Obito's childish and trickster, Spoiled little Sasuke brat, Whiny&Casanova cousin, warmwarm baa-chan, Trigger's macho habits, washing dirty mouths and arm around her waist.  
_**Summary:** Karin couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sasuke was there, yes, seemingly even more gorgeous, if that was possible, but they had yet to see his face. Why? Because he had it buried in the pink haired girl's neck. **SasuSaku**_**.**_

**Disclaimer:** Kishimoto-baka owns.

This chapter contains a piece of _**Flashback**_

_**Please read the important message in the Afternotes!**_

**_._**

**_Reupload reasons;_**

_Link for the storie's references will be posted in my profile from now on. And that's it.(anditworksnow!)_

* * *

**+ Hundred to one: introduction**

**Upper East Side, Manhattan, NYC, USA.**

07:00 pm

Their ride to the building had taken longer than needed due to traffic, which wasn't any shock or front-page news in New York City. Mikoto and Obito spent most part of the journey clueing Sasuke in about the last family events and scoops; he was aware of some but didn't illustrate them with his thoughts concerning them, other than his monosyllabic answers or a few sarcastic notes.

Sakura knew he was tired, reason why he had favoured letting his mother and uncle to divulge about them themselves than to actually engage in a full conversation with them. He had kept his eyes on the urban scene that flashed outside the window, watching his origin city with mild interest while he listened to the conversation. His arm was still around her; the fingers threaded into her hair would move from time to time, stroking her scalp.

From all the episodes they touched, Obito's fight with his wife, Rin, took most portion of the discussion. The sportive man had expressed his stupefaction at how his wife had apparently yelled him out of their home last night, leaving him to crash at his nephew's, Shisui, place hours past midnight. Mikoto commented he could have gone to her place, but he vehemently shook his head in resistance, declaring how she would pester him like the good member of the Uchiha's sisterhood she was, adding that his brothers, Izuna and Madara, were also two of his last options because they were two stuck-ups that pretended they were the good trained hounds their two wives liked to believe they were ―words that earned him a slap on his shoulder and a strong pull on his ear from the raven haired woman, who started her rant reprimanding his male values and bruising his ego.

Seemingly, the motive for the present crisis in his marriage was that he had gone to a bachelor party that night, without saying a word about it to his wife that was at work, and had returned home with a mesh hot pink and blue thong in his pants' pocket —which, apparently, was taken as a joke by him and it only led to a comic but awkward story that he wasn't able to complete due to Mikoto's aggravation that had followed her mortified gasp.

The dogs had been quiet for the most of the drive, but Trigger couldn't lose the chance to be part of the commotion, being followed by Blue Hope, who seemed always fierce in not letting him have the fun alone —leaving to their owners to get them to stop their agitated barking.

**.:*:.**

"Here we are!" Obito called out for the teens that have been quiet for the last half an hour. After parking the car in the private driveway of the condo, he turned to look at them; the drowsy and blurred look in their eyes served as a confirmation to his suspicion that they had enjoyed a short nap. He sometimes had checked on them through the rear-view while he and Mikoto were informing his nephew on the latest news about their family. He noted that the two British youths weren't paying that much attention to their conversation, which they opted not to take part in, preferring instead to talk among themselves. After he had shared about his marital crisis, a biting argument with his in-law was evoked, thus his attention was immediately ―although, resentfully― grasped, causing him to forget the youngsters for a while so he could guarantee his defence on the matter.

"Sasuke, you are home! Go handle your mother and the other family's females' cries, go," he ushered, motioning for his nephew to open the door beside him, causing said youth to roll his eyes in a tired manner.

Sasuke detangled his arm ―which was now a little numb, from being around his girlfriend's shoulders through the entire ride— and opened the door, stepping out and placing Ruby on the ground since she had woken when the car parked. He turned to help Sakura out of the vehicle, taking an awakened Trigger from her arms and vaguely noting Shikamaru stepping out from the other side.

"Thanks" she said as she stepped out of the vehicle and stretched a little, letting her eyes follow the building's extension.

_1…4…6…10…14…18_

It was an eighteen-story apartment building; the construction was out-of-century, old fashioned and ―maybe, if her knowledge on the artistic and cultural periods was right― Renaissance inspired. From the lobby till the fourth floor it was sheathed in limestone, and then it became only details and trims as the main frame changed for terracotta coloured construction that covered all the higher stories, reaching the terrace. Her eyes followed the length again, appreciating the sensitive details carved in the limestone and how the terrace seemed a construction of its own, as if a house had been built on the top of the building —the place of their destination.

"Your neck is going to stiff," —was the sort of comment that broke her thoughts.

She turned to see Sasuke behind her, a little smirk tugging one side his lips. She swatted his shoulder, "Thanks for worrying" she said sarcastically, although her voice was very soft. Before Sasuke could respond with a merry taunt, they were interrupted,

"Let's go, then?" a male voice asked.

Turning to the voice's direction, she saw Obito, Mikoto and Shikamaru watching them with some amusement —well, _amusement_ wouldn't be the right word to describe Shikamaru's bored stare.

She noted that, like them, Sasuke was already carrying the bags and that the dogs were all put down and on their leashes, for exception of Biscuit, who seemed very comfortable in the older woman's arms.

Sakura nodded, taking her handbag from her boyfriend as they walked into the lobby.

A bald well dressed man, who looked likely to be a doorman, around his 50's nodded to Obito as he was about to enter the building, "Good Afternoon, Mr. Obito" he greeted, not committing the mistake of calling the man by his last name —something the Uchiha in question was so insistent for him not to do, "Would you like for your car to be brought to the garage?"

Obito shook his head, "No, thanks, Luke. I'll be leaving in a few, I suppose", he said before going in.

Luke nodded, "Yes, sir", and proceeded to nod Mikoto and Shikamaru, "Mrs. Uchiha" he said.

"Good afternoon, Luke", she answered, following her in-law along with the brunette youth.

Luke then turned his attention to the couple that neared the door, looking at both youth's interaction with warm eyes, then taking a longer look at the boy he knew for more than fourteen years, "Welcome back, Sasuke" he greeted.

The younger Uchiha stopped at the entry, raising his free hand to pat the man's shoulder once, "How are you, Luke?"

The older man smiled "I'm doing fine, and you?" he asked, glancing at the woman beside the young man who looked coolly at him, not interrupting their exchange.

Sasuke nodded, taking notice of the man's silent question, "This is Sakura, my girlfriend" he said, "This is Luke, he is one of the veterans amongst the Condo's employees" he introduced, glancing at said girl before looking back at the man.

Luke nodded, smiling at the pretty girl, "It's a pleasure, Mrs. Sakura. I hope you enjoy your stay"

She nodded once with a little smile, "Only Sakura is fine, thank you" she greeted before following Sasuke inside.

The lobby was adorned with light shade of colours like white, cream, gray, beige, goldenrod and browns. The two continuous walls that were opposite to each other were made of different materials: one of a refined type of limestone, while the other was made of blonde Anigre wood. A painting decorated the centre of the wall; the contour of the back of a lying woman made with wide soft brushes of pinks, yellows, browns and greys. The reception table was localized in an opening made in the Anigre wall. A tall and wide glass adjacent wall on the background allowed the view of the garden as a nice sight for those who enjoyed their time on the elegant seating area with rich leathers on the centre of the room.

"Sasuke, stop! Stop!" she said urgently, seeing him blink at her, his brows frowning a little in confusion. "Let me get Trigger" she said, motioning for him to halt so she could pick up the dog whose leash he was holding.

"Sak, he won't be up for it" he said seeing as how the dog was excited over his new environment, "Just leave him"

She shot him a slight wry look, "You know very well what he will be up for, if not in the lobby, as soon as we enter the elevator"

"He will do it in the apartment anyway" the raven haired youth said with a shrug.

She nodded, "Yeah, that's your problem, not mine. But at least he won't do it on his way there", she said and before the happy dog could go on with his plans of marking his spot, his mistress picked him up —much to his discontentment. She proceeded to follow the others through the entrance that was localized between two pillars, while holding the struggling dog tightly, "No, no and _no_" she said in response to his whines and struggles.

**.:*:.**

Sasuke opened the lift's door, so they could enter the cream coloured hall.

"Thanks God Mrs. Garner is on her spa recreation!" Obito said in relief as they exited the lift.

Mikoto shook her head at him, although she deemed the older woman's leave for the week a good thing.

Sakura looked curiously at Sasuke, "Who?" she asked softly, almost a whisper.

"One of the neighbours here―"

"Oh, she is an old widow socialite who is spellbound to fame, high society and such" Obito explained, interrupting his nephew.

"Hm…" she nodded, seemingly not impressed.

"Well, we have the Coopers, the Lanes, the Cunningham's, and the McLaughlin's and so on... Some are just less flamboyant than others. You might meet them while you are here, including Mrs. Garner, when she returns" he said after ringing the bell.

"That's not so certain since we won't be staying here for long" Mikoto said.

"Just pray you don't meet Mrs. Mclean or Mrs. Sweeney" Obito whispered to Sakura with a grim expression. She looked at him uncertainly, giggling a little, surely not catching the depth of what situation that would turn out to be.

The door was opened by a tall thin man with Asian features dressed in a white shirt, black waist coat, gray trousers and a bow tie, "Let me help you, Obito-san" he offered, glancing confusedly at the dogs as two of them started barking.

"No, no, no need to, Heng" Obito chanted, shaking his head as he walked into the apartment with utmost confidence, leaving the man to blink at his back.

Mikoto sighed, nodding in thanks when the man took the guitar case from her, and followed Obito inside with a sleepy Biscuit in her arms.

The black haired man turned to the other three, seeing his two-years absent master and two strangers and three dogs, for which he contained his shock about, "It's very good to see you again, Sasuke" he said with a smile.

Sasuke nodded with a slight smirk, "You too, Heng. These are my girlfriend, Sakura, and a friend, Shikamaru. They'll be staying with us" he introduced as they all entered.

Heng nodded to each of them after closing the door, "It's a pleasure"

"Sasuke!" a voice called.

They turned to see another man, only a few years younger than the first, dressed in the same outfit, except that his trousers were black and he wasn't wearing a bow tie; like Heng, he also had Asian features.

"Wei" Sasuke greeted him the same way he did Heng, but with a plus of familiarity.

The man stopped next to Heng, who was almost a head taller than him, and smiled at the youth, "Welcome back!" he greeted, placing a hand on the raven haired man's shoulder before patting his back, "And you are Sakura and Shikamaru?" he asked, having heard the prior introduction, he refrained from treating them formally. His master's three sons have abolished any formal honorific when referring to his friends. They nodded, which he returned, "I deem the flight was nice?"

"Yeah. Tiring, though" Sasuke answered with a glance at the girl, who was staring at a painting hanging on hall's wall while petting Trigger.

Wei nodded and was about to ask more questions, possibly concerning the three canines, when Heng interrupted him.

"Very well, you can leave your bags with us and we will take them to your respective rooms" he said, remembering his co-worker with a pointed look that the youth should be tired and wish for some rest.

After giving them Sakura's white bag that he's been carrying, Sasuke nodded to Shikamaru and both took off their backpacks, setting them on the floor. Both men picked up the bags and carried them to the stairs, when Heng turned to look at them. "Who is the owner of the case?" he asked, lifting the instrument case a little.

Sasuke and Sakura answered together, "It's ours"

Heng blinked a little, seemingly surprised or confused but didn't let it show much. Much.

"Sasuke, who are they?" Sakura asked in mildly wonder, although she knew the answer, she just wanted to check.

He took her hand in his and started to make his way somewhere, with Shikamaru following them, "Butlers, perhaps?" he said in a mocking hint, looking at her a little skeptically, as if not believing she didn't know.

"You have _two Butlers_?"

He sighed.

Shikamaru copied.

**.:*:.**

"_Where are you taking us?"_

"_Hn"_

"_Sasuke"_

"_The kitchen"_

Sasuke peeked inside the room, taking notice of his cousin inside, seating at the table. He opened the door and motioned for the older male to be quiet before fully entering, followed by his two companions. His attention turned to the elder woman near the stove and he silently made his way in her direction. The smell of oregano reached his nostrils as he stopped behind her; her figure still as short as always has been, now only reaching a little past his elbow. He smirked when he heard her ever present grumbles to herself, while she concentrated on her cooking.

"Oh my, where's the salt?" she asked no one, looking for the salt shaker amongst the many condiments on the counter. "Now you go missing, mister?" she asked in her tiny voice, seemingly annoyed, but funny nonetheless, "At least the chilli is almost done" she said, her little eyes sparkling at the memory.

**……**_**.  
~**_

'_Clanck!'_

_She was arranging a few groceries that had just been brought in by one of the employees when she heard the sound of the pot's lid being closed. Thinking it was Obito fussing around her cooking ―and eating it in the process― she turned to give him a lecture but smiled when she saw who it was. _

"_Oh, I see you are ready!"_

_She said to the small six-years-old who had just entered the kitchen wearing his party attire which consisted of a little suit, tailored especially for his measures by a renowned suit maker that was an old acquaintance of his mother. _

"_You look very elegant, Sasu-chan!" she praised._

_Sasuke, however, didn't seem to think much of the whole thing —if his conspicuous scowl and pout combined with his crossed arms was taken in consideration. _

"_Humph!"_

_The woman on her late fifties smiled warmly at the boy, taking a few steps towards him, "Oh, Sasu-chan. This isn't so bad… It's a party in the big garden that you like to play at, with many friends of the family, including some of yours too. But you still have to remember not to cause trouble today and―", she stopped her sentence and halted her steps, "Sasu-chan, silly, where's your tie?" _

_The reactions were immediate; his face first contorting in one of annoyance and what seemed to be disgust and changing to an expression that screamed "CAUGHT". _

_Her little brown eyes narrowed. They never hardened like most, not losing all of their warmth, but since he was raised by her and so had come face-to-face with both expressions, it was easy for him to catch the difference._

"_Why aren't you wearing it, mister?"_

"_I lost it" he said quickly._

_She blinked and a worried expression took her face, no longer placing any of the blame on him, since she was one that believed his every word, even when anyone could see it was a big lie._

_Like now._

"_Oh! Don't worry, dear. I will look for it and I'll call you when I find it, ok?"_

"_Ok!" he said with a grin before running out of the kitchen._

_-:-_

_Two hours later…_

…_and no sign of the tie._

_She had looked for it everywhere in the house —figuratively speaking, since the house was immense. But she had searched for it in all the rooms he often made use of, where the article could be, and in the places where he had already used for hiding something or himself. She was sure she hadn't searched in all of them, since there were enough of occurrences in the past for her to doubt she could remember them all. One would think that after so many times, she would have her suspicions ready to fire, but she didn't._

Maybe_ with Itachi, she would have._

Maybe_ with Sai._

_Maybe, perhaps, with them she would have suspected something by now. _

_But _not_ with Sasu-chan._

_She gasped when she remembered the Chilli that she left cooking in the kitchen. Although she had asked one of the maids to start the process and take care of it, she knew them well enough not to trust them with that so much, so she hurriedly descended the stairs. _

_-:-_

_She did right on not trusting the younger ladies, for when she arrived in the kitchen, both were in midst of their gossip across the room, while the chilli was seemingly long forgotten._

_Not one to complain on someone or call someone's attention, even less start an argument, she left them to themselves as she approached the chilli pot. She gasped after she moved the lid, her little eyes wide and mouth gaped, staring at the inside of the pot, which she was sure that hasn't been removed till now, explaining the smell of burning food. Burned Chilli. _

_But that wasn't all._

_Imagine her surprise, when she found the clothing article she had been searching for the last two hours inside the pot, drowned in Chilli!_

_The blue bow tie._

_-:-_

_She padded down the hallway, hurriedly since she didn't have much time left! She needed to find that little trickster soon and then she could start cooking another pot of Chilli. She was thankful her mistress was understandable —about the Chilli, at least. _

_On the 'Sasuke' domain, on the other hand… _

_She was sure the only reason why the woman didn't ran around the house in search of her son was because some of the guests had already arrived and she didn't want to alert her husband about it._

"_Now _you_ go missing, mister?"_

_She panted as she stopped to open every door in the hallway, so she could check every room, except for the locked ones. As she was about to open the door to Sai's bedroom, the door from the room next to it was opened, revealing the master's oldest son, Itachi._

_The ten-years-old didn't say anything, although his expression was a little annoyed. Just then he stuck his arm out of the room, his fingers holding the back of Sasuke's shirt, before he deposited him on the floor._

'_Tomb!'_

"_Agh!"_

_Little eyes widened._

"_Here"_

_And closed the door._

_Sanshou blinked for a moment, looking a little shocked and bewildered at the spot, before focusing her eyes on the almost sheepish little figure —as sheepish as the little Uchiha could be. _

"_So…" he trailed off, trying to sound innocent while shooting little glares at his big brother's door. _

_He'd never trust his whereabouts in him again. _Traitor, _he internally glowed as a scowl formed on his face._

_Sanshou could only stare for a moment._

_Tousled hair._

_Furrowed shirt and trousers._

_No coat. No shoes._

_Dirty socks._

_Blue bow tie burned with Chilli in the trash._

_She sighed._

_The Chilli would have to wait._

_**~  
…….**_

He smirked at the memory, remembering the event at their house in Los Angeles. That was a good time, although he wouldn't agree with it back then, especially with the long boring party he had to attend after being found, closing the night with a screaming lecture from his angry mother.

He turned his attention back to the elder woman, seeing her close the drawers she had opened, seeming like she had found what she was looking for ―the salt shaker—or so she thought. His smirk widened and he refrained from rolling his eyes when he caught sight of what she had in her hand that she had mistaken for salt.

Just as she was about to happily pour the grains on her cooking; he decided to butt in,

"I don't think sugar will go nice with it…"

"Oh dear, what sugar are you talking about?" she asked while shaking her head with a little chuckle, not realizing who had spoken, much to his and the others' amusement —especially his cousin's, who had let out a snort from his spot at the table.

He reached out his long arm and snatched the condiment holder from her little hand, earning a huff from her as she turned around with a frown, as if ready to lecture a five-years-old, "Shisui-chan, give me―OH!" she gasped at who was behind her, with a smirk on his face. "Sasu–Sasu–Sasu-chan! Oh, my boy!" she squealed, her voice scratchy, and hugged the man who had to bent in an almost 90 degrees angle to make it possible, "You are here!" she beamed happily, tears running down her wrinkled face.

He chuckled, "So it seems," he said, letting her go just as an arm was thrown around his shoulders.

"What's up, little cuz?!" the long haired man hailed, tightening his grip on the younger man that was now as tall as him, "The people here has been expecting ya for the last… two months! I couldn't hear the end of it! And now that you are finally here to handle your share of these women, I see that you've brought one of your own…" he ventured, although he already knew about it, to try to get some annoyed reaction from Sasuke, who had just detangled himself from him and was stretching his back and looking at him with a raised brow, as if knowing he wasn't finished, "I suppose…?" Shisui lured, letting some extra mischievousness show in his onyx orbs.

Sasuke tilted his head to the side while staring at him in an unspoken conversation, "Ha ha," Humourless.

"Oh, dear, let me fix this…" the older woman said when she noticed that the pair of strangers she had just taken notice of were approaching them after Sasuke's nod, fumbling to take off her apron, which seemed always to be a hard task for her due to the tight knot she always did, "Oh, you fool rag" she grumbled, oblivious to the amused attention she was getting. Before she could achieve her goal, she found Sasuke and his two companies waiting for her, causing her to stop her fussing, "Oh"

The younger Uchiha smirked and looked at the amused woman by his side, sliding his arm around her waist and earning a small smile from her, before he looked back at a gapping Sanshou that was watching them with surprise written on her face, "So, _this _one is Sakura, my girlfriend" he said, hearing a scratchy _"Oh"_ from elder woman, "and that lazy thing over there is Shikamaru" he said nodding his chin at said man's direction, which earned a giggle from both women.

"The tramp" Sakura joked, giggling lightly while she pressed herself to Sasuke's side as his side hug grip tightened. Her boyfriend had told her to let the dogs free to explore the house, which she was hesitant for a while —regarding Trigger— but shrugged it off, leaving for him to deal with it later.

The other door at the side of the kitchen opened a little as Mikoto peeked inside, watching as the introductions went on. She wanted to see the older woman's reaction to her son's arrival since she had been so anxious, but not only that, she was curious to her reaction to his two companies as well.

Sasuke chuckled, watching his friend roll his eyes with a sigh, muttering _"Troublesome"._ "This is Sanshou. I told you about her" he said, looking at the woman in his arms who nodded with a smile at the curious look on Sanshou's face.

"You did" she said, moving to detangle herself from him.

"I don't recall…" Shikamaru said, making a small effort to search in his memory archive. Small because he was difficult on forgetting things.

"I didn't tell you"

"Hm" he shrugged then.

"You probably weren't welcome at the moment he released this info, man" Shisui said with a grin.

He rolled his brown eyes, "That's nothing rare…" he grumbled.

Sanshou was about to make an outraged opposition to Shisui's impolite comment, when she saw the girl taking the few steps towards her. She gasped as the girl stopped before her, being now able to take a good look at her, since her sight fooled her about what lay in distance. The old woman was sure surprised to find the girl to be unnaturally beautiful, although she had to say her choice of clothes looked rather funny in her old eyes opinion. The hat on top of her head, the oversized leather jacket that was unzipped, revealing a striped summer dress _un_matched with those thin blue tights seemed to divert her. Returning her attention to the angelic face, she saw as her little smile widened.

"It's sweet to meet you, Sanshou-san" she said politely, surprising said woman, who was distracted by her accent for an instant.

The old woman's smile became even warmer as she giggled, "Oh, no, no, child! You can call me Sanshou-baa too! It's a pleasure to meet you too!" she said, placing her hands on the girl's arms since neither her size nor flexibility let her put them on her shoulders. A little gasp left her lips as she started fumbling with her apron again, "Oh, dear! I'm sorry to be receiving you this way! What am I thinking ―"

"It's alright"

"No, no, let me just ―"

"Really, it's _very _fine, Sanshou_-baa_" the girl said with an amused smile at the elder woman's antics.

Shikamaru had halted his bored thoughts as he regarded Sakura's treatment towards the elder woman; the warmth and maybe admiration in her green orbs called his attention. He glanced at his raven haired friend to find him watching the two women's greetings with a thoughtful and satisfied expression.

Mikoto also noticed the warm exchange and felt a little bothered by it as she walked down the hallway after closing the door quietly. She, who didn't know the girl at all, couldn't understand the reason for the different treatment between her and Sanshou.

"Oh, good then" the light silver haired woman said, still unconsciously patting her apron as she saw the brunette boy approaching them.

Shikamaru nodded, "Nice to meet you, ma'am" he said, sighing as his rosette friend rolled her eyes at him.

"Hey, Sasuke! I didn't leave the kitchen yet, you know? And I'm part of the family's big-league, so I _do _believe it's essential for you to _mention _me!" Shisui complained, rather irked and gloomy at the fact that he was being left out in a group of only five people, no less.

"You _are_ part of the family, but I _don't_ deem you essential at all, nor worthy of being mentioned if I can choose it."

"Now that's stingy" the older Uchiha scoffed at the smirk tugging the younger man's lips.

Shikamaru yawned, "So… will we have a tour to a room any time soon?" he asked before he gave a little jump to his left as Sakura pinched his right side, making him frown at her before letting his eyes wander around again.

"Oh! Of course, dear! Sasu-chan, they are tired! Look at your friend's face, ne…"

"That's how it normally looks like" Sasuke drawled wryly, hearing his girl's giggle. He pulled her to him, having his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey!" Shisui called out, glaring at the brunette.

"Sasu-chan, don't be rude!" Sanshou chided, ignoring his snort. "Take them to their rooms and I will call you three when dinner is ready."

The door they came from opened, causing them to turn to see Heng entering the kitchen, "Sasuke, I announce the two guest bedchambers are ready. It's not up to the normal high standards but considering you _didn't_ caution me or _anyone_ here that you were bringing two companies with you, I suppose, in such a short notice, it will be commodious enough. But even so, I can say, I made my best and―"

Sasuke blinked once, raising a brow at the stiff and slightly bitter butler, "You are clearly missing the conception here, Heng―"

"Oh Heng, Heng, Heng" Shisui said in mocking disappointment, shaking his head at the flustered stiff man.

"Only one guest room will be enough"

Heng looked alarmed at the young man, "But, Sas–Sasuke, why not provide proper accommodations for your companions? This is not how Mrs. Mikoto raised you to―"

"Sakura will stay with me" Sasuke said, tightening his loose grip on the girl's shoulders, bringing her ―very willingly― to his side.

Shisui snickered at the agitated butler who he could see asking Sasuke to repeat what he had just said, since it seemed to have taken him by great surprise. Heng was a very formal man, even after having been with their family for twenty-something years, the guy loosened very little of his etiquette. It was actually unfair, in Shisui's and his cousins' opinions, considering their many attempts through the years to break the man's pose. They've learned that even a flustered and irritated Heng, wouldn't be in lost of posture for too long. But now, looking at the pale and blinking man, who kept opening and moving his mouth, as if trying to form words for this situation, only to close it again ―seemed like this was the low blow. The blow they needed. The one Shisui would be damned not to take fortune of,

"What Sasu-chan is saying is that," he started, ignoring the glare he was sure his cousin had directed at him for the inappropriate name using, "is that this beautiful young lady will be staying with him, in his _bedchamber_. Therefore, you can rest assured that we'll certainly be providing them the best of our accommodations; at least I'm sure she will agree with me, for she will be under his care and under him _himself_ when it's time to call it a nigh―", he didn't get to finish his sentence when the half from a grilled tomato that, to his luck, seemed to be bathed in its juice, was accurately thrown at him, landing on his forehead, above his left eye before sliding down his face and falling on the floor. Sasuke always had a good aim.

He looked at said man, seeing he was not a tad bothered about his insinuation and, to his curiosity, neither was the woman in his arms, who was grinning in amused bewilderment with a soft blush adorning her cheek; both actually looking pretty entertained. Of course his cousin wouldn't care about his words, since Sasuke wasn't one to be known for his bashfulness and modesty, nor was he packed with morals either. But then again, Sanshou being around could be a good guess for why the reaction, other than for the younger Uchiha's own amusement, that is.

Speaking of said woman, he found estrange that she didn't stand up for his defence after his cousin's attack, but with a glance at her he doubted the now blushing in red highlights, sporting an expression of utter stupefaction, had registered his demise. So he guessed his words were clearer than an innuendo should be, since she never followed those.

Sasuke sighed, "Let's go then" he said, taking Sakura's hand in his and holding the coat she had taken off in the other, knowing Shikamaru was sure to follow them.

"You won't leave before introducing me!" Shisui protested, getting even more agitated when he didn't get a response, "They even know their way to one of the bathrooms already! They even know Wei and Heng and how locked in the latter is!" he continued. As if just remembering the mentioned man was still in the room, he added _"No offense there, man. You are just inelastic." _

All Heng could do after the scene was to give a more-stiff-than-usual nod with an audible gulp and leave the room in inflexible and précised fast steps.

Shikamaru sighed, "Sasuke, are you taking us there or will I have to find my way and crash somewhere 'round the house?" he drawled with another yawn.

Affronted onyx eyes narrowed at him, "Hey, Pineapplehead-boy! This isn't nice! And I thought English people were super polite!"

The brunette just rolled his eyes, "What a drag…"

"Ok! If my disrespectful cousin won't do it, I'll introduce myself then!" he decided, seeing as this was the only way. Focusing his eyes on the girl, who mattered most from the two —or in general since the others were douche bags in his opinion, while she was so pretty!— He closed his eyes for the full effect of the move, stretching his lips in a charming smirk and slowly opening his lids halfway to wink at her, "Hello, pretty girl. If you think _this_" he said, motioning to his sceptical looking cousin "is good, I'm at the top of the stairs to cloud nine–OUCH! Fuck, Sasuke! You didn't have to kick, man! You don't _kick _cousins! Maybe a shove or a punch in the least, but _not _a kick! Fuck! OUCH! What was that for?" he asked after being injured again by a wood spoon and was now scowling at the angry elder lady, while massaging his abused shin and stomach and trying to ignore his cousin's satisfied smirk.

"I beg you two to excuse this sleazy young man's dirty mouth and I guarantee to you that I'll wash it brand new!" she said with a determined nod, not noticing the newcomer's confusion as to what she was exactly meaning about that.

"Come" Sasuke called them, opening the door.

Shisui recovered fast, "Hey! Come back here! Yo, pretty girl! Room at the second floor, hall to the right, and…" _Think fast, damn it! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…_ "Fifth door!" he called out when they had already left the kitchen.

"Shisui-chan, stop shouting. They can't hear outside the kitchen. You'll talk to them later…"

"Ah, dammit. That brat. He makes me _miss_ Itachi, man" he whined, standing up to leave the room with the plan of lying down on his comfortably bed to ease the burning in his shin but was stopped by a hand grasping the end of his shirt. Looking down he saw Sanshou shaking her head at him,

"Nou-uh, Shisui-chan, you won't leave this kitchen right now. Not until we talk about your manners."

"WHAT?"

"That girl must be traumatized by now!"

He gave her a dry look, "I really doubt it"

"The poor girl, tsk! Come on, step close to the sink" she said before picking up the little bench from the corner of the room and placing them in front of the sink before stepping on it to stand higher.

His eyes widened before shutting in irritation, "Oh, no! Not this again!"

"Come here, Shisui-chan" she called again, opening the tap and rubbing some soap in her hands before looking expectantly at the tall man.

He sighed as he stood beside her, "Yeah, I sit here while the one who threw the tomato and kicked me is out and about tapping the hot chick" he grumbled before bending down when she tapped his back.

"What did you say? Speak louder so Sanshou can hear it, dear"

"…Nothing" he grumped before grimacing at the taste of soap and clapping his lips tight.

* * *

_**Afternotes:**_

**EDITED: **The present date that is mentioned in the first chapter was changed for the 21st, instead of 23rd —as I have abstractedly put it.

In the third chapter, Obito refers to Sasuke as a twenty-years-old, when he actually is 21. This wasn't an actual mistake because I had to go deeper in many topics to decide how old Sasuke was going to be in this story.

**X**

Some of you might be not really grasping the interaction between Sakura and Shikamaru, as one of the readers told me. But you will get the swing of things!

**X**

Concerning the Flashback (which I think it was clear that was one, right? I didn't want to write "Flashback"), it was a flash from both Sasuke's and Sanshou's memories —reason why is told by both of them (more by her, but Sasuke has his inputs).

**X**

This is **IMPORTANT** and **HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY**!

Before I wrote this story, I had developed ideas for three stories (this one, a prequel and a sequel). Because I wasn't in my best moments to commit myself with the prequel of the story (and because at first this story was more for me to exercise my writing), I decided to start with the middle one. I was pleasantly surprised with the response I got for this one (for which I'm thankful for!) So it was all cool, all going, and flowing… until I was cornered by my friends that knew of my original plans for me to **write the prequel**. Well. Crap. So I thought for a while and decided that I will try to begin it. But this means that I'll pause this one for a while (and _maybe _I'll upload a chapter now and then), but that will only happen if I achieve to write two chapters for the prequel. So it's not a bad thing, right? I mean, in the prequel you'll be aware of how things happened between them, of how they came to be. I do have many ideas! (Yeah. They've got me excited.) For those who are worried about this one and ready to PM me to make their worries known, don't worry. **I fully intend on continuing this story and it will be back to its normal rhythm after I'm finished with the prequel.**

So, concluding, **if I succeed in starting the prequel, I will pause (not abandon) this story.**

At first I was against the idea, because I thought it was very unpractical of me. But after having come across so many good stories that were deleted because they are going to be rewritten and others which don't connect with their prequels (an easy mistake I don't want to happen), I changed my mind. I also didn't want it to confuse you, so if I do it, I gotta do it now since I have released too little information in this story (thank pockies I'm a slow writer!) So it's actually fit that I pause this story now. As my gift to you all, instead of revealing in the further chapters as was planned, you'll find out what Sakura does in my next update. It won't be detailed, but it will answer many questions and will be a snack for the possible prequel.

The **prequel would also be important because will focus (not that this one doesn't) more on Sasuke and Sakura's relationship, meaning, more SasuSaku moments. **

So I ask you all, those who review and those who don't, to **go in my profile and **_**pool it**_**.** Your opinion won't exactly decide what I'll do (since as I said, I need to see if I achieve to write a few chapters first to see if there will be or not a prequel), but they mean a lot. **I need to know if you guys are interested and if you'll still be with me. **

So, yeah.

**X**

Man, I miss reading stories… [so little time…]

If you find many grammar mistakes in this chapter, I'm sorry. I very exhausted and will jump from this chair to my bed (after brushing my teeth and putting on my PJ's) to sleep and calm the swirling in my head. As I answered to some of you that PMed me, I was planning on updating in the end of the month or in the beginning of November… But then, today I decided to lift this off my shoulders.

I've updated yesterday night, but delete it because I wasn't sure about it yet.

**little warning:** next update wont be called a chapter because it isnt one, but it's also part of the story! I'm warning this so no one would think is an author's note or smth.

Anyone feeling like biting nails for the next Manga?

**Your reviews fuel my motivation, yeah!**


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